A Shot For You
by Casual-the-casual
Summary: Leo and Raph get into yet another fight, the shredder is giving Purple dragons the ultimate weapon. Can the turtles figure it out before our famous hot-headed turtle loses his life? (Art by Sneefee) NO ROMANCE
1. Chapter 1

Leo didn't understand Raph! He was always so stubborn and hard headed, running straight into the enemy instead of following orders or thinking out a plan first. He was too headstrong! After going out on patrol, they had run into the foot, which was something they could handle, afterall Shredder was so quick to get more recruits that he taught quickly, just the basics, no wonder the man couldn't capture them. Halfway through the fight however, Leo had saw the acid they so desperatly needed, but instead of getting a chance to get the acid, Raph had ignored his direct order to stay back.

"Why can't you ever just listen?! You always have to do exactly what I don't want you to do!" Leo said harshly as he walked into the lair, Raph righ behind him, spitting back a retort immediatly.

The other two brothers, sensing a fight coming had quietly made there way into Don's lab.

"The foot got away with acid because of yer stupid plan!"

"They got away because you couldn't listen! You nearly got Mikey killed!"

Mikey made a whine of discomfort, for obvious reasons not wanting to get dragged into the middle of this. Looking at Don who shrugged, dragging Mikey into the lab even faster then before.

Leo realized their voices were rising, and cursed himself for it, he knew Raph had an attitude, but sometimes he just couldn't take it! Why was Raph allowed to put them all in danger and not listen?! No one else, especially himself could get away with it, not only that he always got in trouble for Raph's decisions!

"I had everything completely under control!" the red masked turtle yelled back.

He didn't know why, but those words set him off, Raph never had things under control, he was as predictible as a bull, and had the brute force of one too.

"Raphael you never have anything under control! One of these your hardheadedness is gonna get one of us hurt!"

"I know exactly what I'm doin' Fearless!" As Raphael said the words he felt his hands twitch when anger flooded his body.

"No, you don't. You act as if every time I give you an order I'm attacking you! I'm just trying to keep you safe! Keep us safe, but you can't have that can you!"

By now Raphael practically had an aura around him, trembling with the pent up rage he was holding. He snarled, stepping up to face Leo, inches away from him, "Just what are ya gettin at Leo?"

"You don't care about what happens to us. I don't know what you're doing, but I'm trying to keep a family safe, my family safe."

Everything was silent, Raph just glaring at his brother the tension so thick, it could be cut with a butterknife, or in this case maybe a katana or sai. After a few moments of silence, Raph's bitter laughter filled the room. Upon hearing the yelling, Donnie and Mike had come out of the lab, just incase the fight got physical, and by the looks of it, it was going to.

Leo was surprised when he heard laughter, he had thought he would be hit, or shoved when those words came from his mouth, but a laugh that was not what he was expecting at all. It must have surprised Don and Mikey too because they were standing, frozen, staring wide-eyed and mouths slack.

"I get it, I'm the problem in this group. You don't trust me. "

Leo stared at him, that's not what he had meant, he hadn't meant to get so angry or say that! They all had secret rolls and Raphael's was obviously protecting his family. No one ever spoke of the rolls they played, it was sort of an unspoken agreement between all of them, and Leo, managed to cross the line. These thoughts were cut short however, when Raphael made a weird whine like noise in the back of his throat, his arms were trembling, and he looked frantically to the enterance of the lair.

Comparing Raphael to an animal was all the blue masked turtle could do, he had never seen such a look of panic in his younger brother's eyes before. Raphael was obviously having trouble controlling himself as he punched the wall infront of him, making Leo wince when he heard his brother's knuckles cracking, and the blood that dripped off them.

"That's- That's not what..." The blue masked turtle's voice trailed off when Raphael's eyes shifted to him, he was scared. Raphael was never scared, but the look he gave him, Leo knew he crossed the line. Raphael would never put any of his brothers in danger.

"I'm- I gotta-" Raphael growled lowly, his gaze tearing away from Leo to look at his other two brothers. This wasn't right, they weren't supposed to see him, not like this. Not trying with all his might to not take his anger out on someone. Just as he was about to leave the lair, an older cracked voice made him stop.

"Raphael, my son..." Splinter stared at Raphael, who was for once, was easy enough to read to be called an open book, fear, guilt, anger, betrayal it rolled off of his body, his hands had balled into fist again and the large rat sighed,

The red masked ninja however shook his head, looking at his sensei and swallowing, "I can't- I just-"

"C'mon Raphie.." Mikey spoke softly, holding a hand out to his brother, "Y'know he didn't mean it."

"I gotta go. I just gotta go." Raphael responded, swallowing hard, it was obvious he was struggling to stay in control, and leaving the lair seemed like the best thing to do, so he did. He didn't look back either.

All Leo could do was stand there and watch him, he'd never seen such...hurt in his brother's eyes before. Never seen him that frantic to get away, sure they had big fights, sometimes they even got physical and went on for hours but this? This was new.

"Leonardo!"

He was cut from his thoughts as his sensei called him, staring at him with those eyes that at some points could be so warm and comforting and other times cold and stern. "Kneel."

"Hai." Leo said as he kneeled infront of his father in shame, staring at the ground before speaking, "Master I-"

"A leader cannot have excuses my son." Splinter's eyes softened as he looked down at Leo, sighing softly, "Raphael may be headstrong Leonardo, but he would never put his family in danger."

"Hai sensei." This time Leo looked up at him, "I'll go get him."

"I believe it's best Raphael gets some fresh air first." He stated, before excusing Leo, he put a hand on his eldest son's shoulder, "Raphael knows your words were from anger my son. He is smarter than he seems."

As he watched his master walk away Leo sighed in defeat and stood, looking at his other two brothers, Mikey frowned before speaking up, "What if he doesn't- "

"Don't worry Mikey, Raph always comes back, he'll be home before morning." As Don spoke he seemed to direct his words to Leo, secretly comforting his older brother. With that, he went to his lab, but found himseld more focused on Raph then his work. In the other room where Mikey was watching t.v, he seemed to have the same problem as he kept glancing at the door.

As for Leo, he had settled himself down in one of the kitchen chairs to wait for Raph to arrive home. He knew he had to apologize, and should wait for his brother to cool down first but at the same time, he felt like he should be out there, looking for him now. After all, his younger brother would probably go looking for trouble. Leo had learned awhile ago that when Raph went topside to "clear his head" usually meant he went looking for trouble. That in itself had gotten the second oldest turtle a few injuries before, but he seemed off when he left, hell, Raph was off, because of him. So he'd wait like he usually did, and apologize when his brother came home.

He didn't know why he was still running, or where he was running to. All he knew was that he wanted, no needed to get away for a little bit, find some heads to smash. An angry growl came from his throat as he punched a wall infront of him, a stinging pain shooting up his arm when his knuckles made contact with the hard brick, reopening the cuts from earlier. Of course he cared for his family! He'd never let them get hurt on purpose, why would Leo even think something like that?

Huffing he leaned over the building he was standing on, looking into the alley below before sitting on the edge and closing his eyes as the noise of the city filled his ears, nothing seemed to be happening tonight, he hadn't heard or seen anything out of the oridinary, then again, it was only around ten and he had all night. Even though Raphael knew Leo hadn't meant those words, they had still somehow made him hurt, and Raphael managed hurting with anger. Growling yet again he stood up from the building, finding it impossible to keep still in a time like this, the mutant turtle hopped off the building, and onto a lower roof, he was in the rougher part of town now, which usually meant street punks, and teenagers who were trying to be big in bad.

Looking around to see if anyone was below him, he quietly hopped into the alley when he realized that no one was around. Sure, he wasn't supposed to leave the rooftops, but what was going to happen if he did? Walking down the dark alleys the red masked turtle froze when he heard the sound of spray paint. Just what he needed, sure it wasn't a big crime, but spray painting was still illegal, hefound himself grinning when he saw the purple paint of the newest street gang, The Purple Dragons. Sure, they weren't that new, maybe at least four years old by now, but there was some much older gangs that Raph worried about, even if this one had contact with The Shredder.

"Io, punk."

The blue mohawked kid jumped when he heard the voice, turning around quickly and facing the red masked turtle, "Who ya callin' a punk, punk!" The boy shouted back, grabbing a pipe that lay on the dumpster next to him.

Raph couldn't help notice he was just a kid, and before he knew it he was scowling. He couldn't beat a kid! "Shouldn't ya be home, sleepin' r'somethin'?" He asked, his fighting stance now much more relaxed and slack, the sai in hands held more loosely then before.

"Yer not my mom." He spat, flipping the pipe in his hands before charging Raphael, swinging the pipe as hard as he could at him.

Now, the boy had attacked, and he'd give him credit for being brave enough to do so, but that didn't matter in this situation, and he got the pipe in the grip of his sai as he sighed softly, "Kid, jus' go home. Don't make me kick yer ass all the way there cuz I will."

"I ain't scared of some freak!"

"What'd you jus' call me?" Raphael felt his anger coming back, he was still mad at Leo, and this boy was pushing it now. He'd tried being Mr. Nice Turtle but it obviously wasn't working, "Alright, I'm done talking." He growled,flicking his wrist some the pipe came forward, knocking the boy off balance, as he fell forward Raph moved so the boy's back was facing him, and shoved him to the ground, leaning down over him.

"I told ya to jus' go home but ya couldn't listen."

Just as he was getting up he heard the sound of wind rushing around him, before he had a chance to look behind him one of the men, this one had a bunch of face piercings and curly blonde hair, hit Raphael in the side with a hammer, causing the second oldest turtle to fall onto the ground.

"Ya think ya can mess with ma brother like that?" He asked, spinning the hammer in his hands as he stared at the turtle infront of him.

"Get'em!"

"Got it boss!" A smaller man, yelled, lunging at Raph, who had already gotten up, and was facing them, a scowl on his face as he spun his sai.

"Ya punks jus' don't learn do ya?"

He huffed, dodging to the side as the shorter man threw a pipe at him, missing by a few inches, as he leaned to the side, the pierced man with the hammer swung at his other side, Raph however saw the attack coming and leaned back, before rolling back against the wall of the alley. Now there was more space between them, making it easier for him to attack. "C'mon that all ya got?" He aske cockily.

That just made the two PDs even more angery then before, both of them running at full speed, swinging their weapons in a frenzy, Raph had no problem, blocking and dodging, although they did get a few lucky hits every now and then. Grabbing the hammer in his hand, he swung the bigger man around, letting him go crashing into his partner with a groan, both of them lay still on the ground as Raphael smirked in victory, hearing sirens not too far off he got up the escape ladder just as the red and blue lights came flying down into the alley. Serves them right, he thought as he wiped imaginary dirt off his hands and ran to wherever the next crime took him. The night was still young and he knew he'd have more punks to beat up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome to the sencond chapter of Shot For You, hope you're enjoying it so far...**

**dondena : I agree completely c: He's independent and likes to prove it, but obviously cares about his family a lot, even if he doesn't show it very often. ^^**

It was around four in the morning when Leo heard movement in the lair, everyone had gone to bed hours ago, but he was still waiting and had slipped off through the night. He turned on the light all too eagerly, expecting to see Raphael. It was only Klunk however and Leo sighed, flopping back down in his chair. Where was Raphael? Was he okay? Usually the red masked turtle would be home by now. Rubbing the back of his neck he looked at the clock again. Where was his brother right now?

As if sensing his worry, Splinter came out of his room, looking at Leo with warm eyes and a sincere smile, "Leonardo, your brother needs time. He will be home soon enough, until then you should rest." The rat put a paw on the blue masked turtle's shoulder and gave him a reassuring nod, Leo however, hesitated.

"But sensei, I- He looked so vulnerable. What if he gets hurt?"

"Raphael is strong, if he were in any danger he'd contact us."

Both of them knew that wasn't true, but it was a comfort they were willing to take for now, the oldest turtle sighed softly and nodded, jumping up and onto the second floor and going to his room, leaving Splinter in the lair, giving the enterance one last longing look before going back to his room although he still wouldn't sleep. As the blue masked turtle sat on his bed he found himself listening intently to the silence in the lair, waiting for a sign that Raphael was _home._ Groaning softly and fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, he closed his eyes and gave a shake of his head as thoughts of his brother being hurt filled his head.

"I need to find him." The blue masked turtle muttered to himself, even though he was eager to look for his brother, he knew he should wait at least one more hour, so he did, and after what seemed like forever, Leo finally got off his bed, and stealthily snuck out the enterance of the lair, and down the sewer tunnels until he got to the nearest manwhole. He wasn't one to sneak out, actually, he never liked the idea of going behind Master Splinter's back, but he knew his sensei and father would have told him to wait for Raphael to return, and he couldn't.

As he ran across the rooftops he couldn't help but realize it was a little quiet out, there wasn't the sound of night people, or any sirens or traffic, it was quiet. Too quiet, and it irked the blue masked turtle. Something wasn't right...He could feel it, and that made him worry even more, maybe Raph was in danger. It would be his fault if his brother was hurt, and he could already feel guilt start to make his stomach flip. Just to make sure his brother was okay, he pulled out his shellcell, calling Raph waiting impatiently as the phone rang, and when his brother didn't answer, all he could do was curse under his breath and begin searching for him again.

He knew Raphael was stubborn, hot-headed and like to get into trouble when he was upset, but he was never out this late, it was five thirty in the morning, and they had training tomorrow. The latest Raphael ever stayed out was usually three, he was two hours late for his own usual schedule. So what was happening? Where was he, and what was he doing?

That's when he heard the sound of metal clashing with metal and froze, looking over to the rooftop of a building four buildings away from him, where a group of Foot Ninja were attacking _someone._ It could only be Raph! As Leo felt worry, and anger well up inside him he took a deep breath to calm his nerves before he ran to his brother's side, pulling his kantana out and attacking the foot that were closest to him, taking them down in only a few minutes, before looking over to his brother, who was panting, and slouched slightly.

Looking around at the number of unconscious bodies that lay on the ground he knew his younger brother had been fighting for awhile, "Raph!"

Upon hearing Leo's voice, Raphael turned his head, blinking when he saw his brother, it looked like he was getting ready to say something but before he could, he was knocked to the ground by a kick to the plastron.

"Oi! Can't a turtle get a break?!" He yelled as he jumped up, throwing his sai at the ninja's arm, stabbing him succesfully, meanwhile Leo was taking down the remaining foot ninja easily, only about fifteen of them still standing, and becoming hesitant.

Raph knocked one of them out, flipping him over his shoulder and rolling inbetween another's legs as he dislodged his sai from the man's arms and stood up, turning around and punching another in the face, he looked at Leo, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Welcome to the party." He grumbled before dodging a hit to the head, tripping the foot ninja and knocking the wind out of him.

Twenty minutes later and they were gone, Raphael having knocked the last one out, by the way he stood and how much he was panting Leo knew he was tired and worn down, but okay. "Why're ya out here fearless?"

"I came looking for you."

The red masked turtle grunted, "Oh so now you're chasing me for lectures."

"No, I came to apologize."

"Why don't ya just go back-" He froze, blinking slowly and staring at Leo, "What?"

"I didn't mean what I said. I was frustrated."

For a moment, the second oldest turtle was quiet, standing there with his sai in his hands, slouched over, he put them back slowly and shrugged one shoulder, rubbing the back of his neck, "Thanks?"

"It's no prob-"

BANG BANG!

"Leo!" Suddenly he was being shoved to the side, losing his balance and falling over, it took him a few minutes to register what happened, and once he did he shot up, looking beside him, at his brother who was laying in a puddle of blood that seemed to get bigger by the minute. His borhter who wasn't _moving._ "Raph! Raphael!" He looked behind him, where a PD was standing, reloading a gun as fast as possible,

Pulling a katana out and running as fast as he could at the girl who had pulled the trigger, he hit her in the stomach with enough force to send her to the ground, before quickly going back to his brother's side, "Raphael!" Still no response, swallowing thickly the blue masked turtle flipped his brother onto his back, gasping, blood was gushing out of a wound to his side, and streaming down his temple.

Shit. Shit. He quickly checked for a pulse, and after a few agonizing seconds of nothing he felt one, it took him a moment to realize the police sirens, and the lights below in the alley, "Hey Raph, c'mon we need to move.." He took one of his brother's arms and slung it over his shoulder before dragging him into a small shack on the rooftop.

He knew he had to slow the bleeding and immediatly began pressing his mask against the wound to his side, tying it around Raphael tightly, Donnie, he needed Donnie. Pulling out his shellcell he called his brainiac brother and not surprisingly, the purple masked turtle answer almost immediatly.

"Leo? Why are you calling me this late? Are those sirens? Where are you?"

"Donnie! Raph's hurt, I'm on the Harlton Inn roof, the police are up here and Raph got shot...I don't think he's going to- going to-"

"Whoa, whoa slow down Leo! What happened?" Donnie's voice got a lot more stern, and he seemed to be paying more attention.

"I'll explain later, I just need you to get down here. Now!" He whispered harshly, backing his foot away as a light flashed under the door and hanging up. He put a hand over Raph's mouth, trying to quiet his eratic breathing. After a few tense moments, the light was gone, just to be on the safe side, he waited a few more moments before opening the door. Donnie was on the way, and until then all he could do was try to stop the bleeding, by now his blue mask was stained purple from blood . What worried him the most was the bullet wound on the side of Raphael's head.

"Leo! " He spun around at the sound of Donnie's voice, watching his brother run to his side, an kneel infront of Raph, "What happened?" He asked, pulling rags out of his bag and throwing one to Leo, "Press that against his side, and don't stop, I want to look at this head wound..."

Leo swallowed and nodded, pressing the rag against his brother's side, feeling Raph's body tense beneath him. "I- We- Some Purple Dragon snuck up on us and he saved me." Leo replied, watching as Donnie pulled a waterbottle out of his back and poured some of it's contents on the head wound, sighing softly.

"Luckily it's just a flesh wound, whoever was shooting had bad aim luckily." He began stitching the wound then and there, wrapping bandages around his brother's head, "We'll need to get him home, he's losing blood really fast." Luckily, Donnie had brought blood clotting spray to help slow the bleeding and sprayed it onto the wound, wrapping bandages around his side.

Everything was black, and he felt numb, but every minute a pain seemed to become more noticeable, he heard someone let out a deep groan and it took him a moment to realize that it was him who made that noise, his head was throbbing and his side felt like it was on fire...

"Raphie, I need you to listen to me and open your eyes. c'mon..." Who was that? Why did they want him to wake up, waking up was so painful? However he could hear the intensity in the person's voice and decided to at least try, he swallowed thickly as he realized just how thirsty he was and tried to open his eyes. It took a few attempts before they were fully opened and his saw blurry figures infront of him. "D-Donnie?" His voice sounded so rough and croaky.

"It's me Raph, you got shot. We need to get you back to the lair, you've lost a lot of blood but we need your help, okay?"

He got shot? Then it all came back, the PD with the gun, she tried shooting Leo but he had shoved him out of the way, and took the bullets himself. He nodded slowly, as his two brothers helped him up. He did his best to walk, but seemed to be dragging his feet against the ground, the pain was even worse when standing. Before he knew it his legs buckled from under him, almost bringing all three of them to the ground.

It felt like hours before they got to the lair, Raph having to be half dragged the entire way there, and when he did get there the three of them made there way to the lab as soon as they opened the door. Mikey and Splinter were still asleep, and even with Raph's condition, Donnie said it'd be best to wait till morning.

"Raphie, you still with us?"

It took the red masked turtle a moment to realize Donnie was speaking to him, and not Leo and when he did he just hummed, his throat to dry to get much words out, "Okay, Leo grab me those IVs and an AB blood packet." Donnie yelled, causing Raph to wince.

Why was everything so blurry? He could hear his brother's talking, but it sounded so far away from him, his vision began fading again, and he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.

"...bullet out."

"What about..."

"I don't have...We'll just...no strong drugs..."

"...Aph! Raph!"

Then everything went black.

**I've decided I'll have a new chapter uploaded every Sunday, or Monday. ^_^ R&amp;R please! cx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Guys, I am SOOOO sorry, my laptop is pretty much broken, I haven't been able to get it started for a few weeks and when I do, it usually only last a couple of hours and yeah. . Gahhh, I'ma update both stories everyday at once so I have nothing to worry bout. For now the time of the chapters will be posted any random day of the week. Sorry again. . **

Donnie knew that Raphael being unconcious would make his job easier, he had to remove the bullet in his side, and stitch him back up without any strong medication to numb the pain. He hadn't gotten any more yet (Raphael used the supply up pretty fast.) and he'd have to ask April tomorrow. At the same time though, his older brother not being awake could lead them to danger. He took a deep calming breath, looking at Leo, "Okay, I need you to bring some water, and some towels. We need to slow the bleeding and remove the bullet as soon as possible."

Leonardo nodded, and had briskly walked towards the kitchen, while Donnie began to get himself ready, cleaning the area around the wound, and his hands. By the time the wound was cleaned, and he had put gloves on, Leo was putting a bowl of water and handful of towels on the table next to him. Why did Raphael have to be such a hot head? He knew it wasn't his brother's fault but if he wasn't so headstrong and didn't go looking for fights he wouldn't get injured so much. "Watch him." The purple clad turtle said as he got his second older brother hooked up to a heart monitor. "I need you to watch his vitals, just incase things go worse than planned."

"This is my fault.." Leo replied, staring down at his bleeding brother, however, Doctor Donatello couldn't deal with emotions right now,

"Leo! That doesn't matter right now, what matters is making sure he'll be okay."

As his brother began to scrub his own hands down, Donnie began, he took a pair of tweasers and began to pulls shards of the bullet away, huffing quietly. "Raph you idiot..." He murmured, his brother scowling in his sleep from obvious pain. He hated seeing his brothers in pain. Luckily enough for them, everything went fine, and the surgery was a success. Donnie had him stitched up in no time, thanks to Leo's help. Now with his brother resting, Leo could tell him what had happpened.

"He'll be fine Leo." He stated, washing his hands again. "A few days of rest and he'll be on his feet in no time."

The blue masked turtle let out a sigh of relief and sat down, "That's great."

"Just what happened? I mean, usually you're both pretty observant, how did you not realize?"

"Nothing, it looked like he had been fighting all night long, and we were both winded by the time she was there, we didn't see her." He stated guiltily, "I should have been paying more attention."

Don simply shrugged, "It couldn't be helped, you should get to bed. I'll watch him for tonight."

When Leo shook his head, the purple masked turtle knew there was no point in trying, and after looking at the clock and seeing it was 5:30 there really was no point. He would need to get up in thirty minutes anyway.

When Mikey woke up that morning, he had a dreadful feeling in his gut that something was really wrong, and when he walkked downstairs, and didn't see Don, or Leo, he knew something had happened. Immediatly worry settled in his stomach, "Leo?" He called, walking towards the lab, when his oldest brother poked his head out of the door, he knew it was probably Raphael.

"It's Raph."

He hit the nail on the head this time, "Is he okay bro?"

"Yeah, just a little banged up."

As Mikey walked in and saw his brother, he wondered how Leo could say, "a little". Most of Raphael's plastron was covered in guaz, and there was a decent amount on his head to, he was hooked up to an IV, and had a blood bag hanging above him too.

"What happened?" The youngest turtle asked quietly, and Donnie quickly spoke up before Leo could blame himself again,

"He got shot when a PD snuck behind him."

"Oh..."

"Your brother will be fine Michelangelo. He is strong."

Mikey nodded, "How can you be so sure Sensei?"

"Raphael has been through worse."

He knew Splinter was talking about two years ago, when they had found Raph in a dumpster after having been shot almost twenty times. It had taken months for him to get better, and it had been hard on all of them.

He took a seat with his brothers, training had been canceled for the day, and he had nothing to do other than be with his brother.

Everything around him was black, he was numb, and all he could hear was this distant beeping, but he couldn't block it out, no matter how hard he tried. Every minute the beeping got louder, and as it got louder his other senses started to pick up, he could feeling a throbbing sensation in his head, and a burning in his side. He tried to make it go away, to go back to that dark place he had been in before, where pain and noise didn't exist, but he couldn't.

"Raph?"

He could barely hear the voice through the rushing in his head, everything just _hurt_. All he wanted to do was go back to the place he had been in.

"Can you open your eyes for me?"

Who was that? Why did they want him to open his eyes in a time like this? Why did he hurt so much?

"C'mon Raphie.."

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know, this is the first time he's woken up..."

Suddenly it hit him, those voices were his brothers'. He tried to remember what happened, but everything was a blur, he remember Leo apologizing to him on the roof and then- and then he had gotten shot, a PD had snuck behind them and was about to shoot Leo. Was Leo okay? Did Leo get shot anyway? He hadn't heard another gun shot but...

"He's going into shock! Raphael, listen to me! Everything is okay, I need you to calm down."

"Leo dude, go get master splinter!"

Once he heard his brother's name, he knew he was okay. So nothing had happened to Leo afterall, as his heart started to slow, so did the beeping. A heart monitor, he was hooked up to a heart monitor, that's why the beeping never stopped.

"He's calming down. He's fine. Raph can you open your eyes?"

Now, knowing his brother was safe he began to focus on what Donnie was saying, it took him a few moments- he never knew opening his eyes could be this draining and hard- but finally, his cracked his eyes open, although he instantly shut them when burning light filled his vision.

"Is he alright?" The red masked turtle heard Leo ask from somewhere in the room, once again he tried to open his eyes, and this time succeeded in keeping them open, looking around the best he could from where he lay. All three of his brothers were leaning over him. It was weird.

"Wha..." His voice was so dry and rough, it was hard to believe it was his. "What are ya lookin' at?" He managed to whisper, slowly sitting up.

His brother's immediatly smiled, and visibly relaxed. Raph would be okay. Their hot headed brother would be okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I know, I've been gone for a REALLY long time. The good news is, I got my laptop fixed! Now that it's fixed I can update my stories. ouo I was rereading this one and I realize there's a lot of spelling errors and grammar errors that my writing program didn't tell me about. ._. I should probably get a better one, xD Anywho, I might rewrite the whole story. Haha I don't know yet. xD **

**Turtlefanforlife1982: Thank you! I'm happy you like it. cx**

**Dark Nightwatcher: I plan to!**

**dondena : Indeed it is! ^.^ **

**Now, with that settled...LET THE STORY BEGIN! **

**I don't own TMNT, or any turtles for that matter.**

For the last day Raphael had been forced to stay in bed much to his protests of being fine, his brother wasn't going to risk it, and Raph knew he wouldn't be able to change the purple masked turtle's mind. So, he had talked the brainiac turtle into allowing him to at least lay on the couch, where he had been for the past three hours, flipping through channels like some bored teenager. Which was what he was, Leo was meditating and Mikey was being forced to take extra lesson from Splinter. Donnie was obviously in his lab, leaving Raphael to find his own means of entertainment, which usually wouldn't be so hard if a certain turtle would let him get up.

Glaring at the lab door as if they were the ones that gave him the cruel punishment of not moving, Raph sighed for what seemed like the tenth time in the last five minutes, before looking over to the television, but not really paying attention. He had managed to- yet again- get shot. He was beginning to get used to the feeling, although it was never red masked turtle stopped flipping through channels after finding a boxing match and settled down comfortable, one arm slung over his plastron, the other itching the gauz that was wrapped tightly around his side.

Stupid stitches, they were always itchy, Don had started wrapping extra gauz around his stitched wounds just because Raphael would itch until they were pulled out. Shifting into a more comfortable position he looked at the television once again, golden eyes glaring at the tele in excitement. He always did enjoy a good boxing round every once in awhile.

"Raph, you shouldn't be itching that."

He didn't even look away from the T.V, rolling his eyes and itching even more to upset his brother, "Mind yer own business fearless."

"When Don catches you..." He trailed off and his younger brother shrugged,

"What's he gonna do? Punish me? I can't go anywhere." He stated matter of factly.

Leo sighed and plopped down in a chair next to the couch, Raphael grinned at the noise of defeat, and looked at his older brother for a moment. Leo seemed so different since he became leader. When they were younger he was just as adventurous and wild as he himself was, yet now he seemed to mellow out, he was the only one who seemed to change over the years. Green fingers began itching the gauz on his head and he huffed, looking at Leo and waiting for him to scold him again for itching, but when he didn't he frowned. There's no way Leo wouldn't be on his case without a reason...

"Do you want me to wrap your hands up too so you won't itch those?"

So that's why Leo didn't say anything, "No, I'm fine." he growled, glaring daggers at Leo as he spoke. He practically sold him out! Crossing his arms over his plastron Raphael looked back at the television, watching the two big men jump around the court, swinging at each other every couple of seconds. Both of them were big, it would be a tough match he knew it. He also noted however, that one of them was beginning to slow down, he had all his money put on the other male.

Once again he began itching his side, ignoring his brothers' glares as he stared at the television program in interest. They never really watched T.V together anymore, since all of them had their own hobbies they liked to do when they weren't training or busy stopping some world damnation. However, the evil masterminds of New York City and space seemed to be taking the day off, and Raphael couldn't really move around much anyway, so it was the perfect oppurtunity. He would never admit it out loud, but he actually missed doing things like this. Even if his brothers usually annoyed him the most during the times like this.

The three of them watched t.v for a few hours, teasing and bickering every once in awhile, after a bit Mikey too soon joined them at the television, the night went by pretty fast, after all it wasn't very often the four of them could all sit around and manage to get along like this.

Not too long later Raphael fell asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly, short and strong breaths leaving his body as he snored, one of his legs was hanging off the couch and his right arm was lying across his chest. He looked so peaceful, and it made Leo smile when he saw that Raph had indeed fallen asleep during their time together.

"He's out like a light, hm?"

"Rightfully so, he hasn't been sleeping very well." Donnie replied, looking over to his sleeping brother and shrugging, "He always did have a slight insomnia problem."

"and here I thought it was you who had the sleeping problems."

Mikey snickered, "He's right dude. Your always up."

"I'm a night owl, there's a difference." He replied, smirking and getting up, stretching his arms and sighing at the satisfying pop they made. "Well, I have some things to work on." The purple masked turtle said with a smile.

Leo nodded, watching his younger brother walk away, and turning his gaze back over to the other one, "You should get some rest too. I'm pretty sure we'll have a busy morning tomorrow.."

"Aww dude, that's no fun."

Of course, the humor of the family knew eo was probably right and with a wave goodnight, he too went off to go to bed.

Leo smiled and looked at his other brother, the one that was sleeping on the couch. The eldest turtle sighed and got up himself, heading off to his own room for sleep. After all, they had training in the morning, with that in mind he took his mask off, putting the blue fabric on his nightstand, rolling onto his bed and turning the light off. However sleep didn't come, he was too occupied by his own thoughts. This was the first night in what seemed like forever since he spent time with his brothers like this. If felt...nice.

Leonardo knew he was always trying to get his brothers to work harder, but not because they weren't good enough for him, but because he needed them to be able to handle themselves. He remembered the time Raphael got hurt for the first time in a battle. That's when he decided his brothers needed to be perfect.

_The rain pelted the four of them, Leo didn't mind it that much, the slight stinging felt good in a way, not that he was a masochist, he just found it to be relaxing. Tonight they were on patrol, lately there had been more crimes, and finally after some convincing, they were allowed out to stop some of it. So here they were, standing on the ledge of a building, looking down at the city below him. It was pretty quiet tonight, maybe everyone was home because of the rain._

_"Mikey!" _

_His brother's rough brooklynn accent pulled him from his thoughts and he looked over his shoulder at his red masked brother, who currently had Mikey in a headlock._

_"Let go dude! Hahaha!"_

_Rolling his eyes and giving another glance to the city below him he turned around, "Can't you two behave?" He scolded as he walked towards his brothers, giving Raph a stern look, "Leave Mikey be."_

_"C'mon Leo, you know he had this comin'"_

_"Duuuude! I didn't do anyth-" There bickering was cut off when the sound of glass shaddering came from below. _

_Looks like people weren't scared of the rain afterall. Raph let go of Mikey immediatly to go check out the noise, peeking over the building he grinned, "Looks like we have a few heads to bust."_

_Leo looked at Raphael, and frowned, "We should see-"_

_Before the blue masked turtle could even finish his sentence Raph had already jumped down below, the smirk on his face as he did so. He groaned as his other brothers followed after the red masked turtle. _

Those were the times Leo let his brother get away with being hot headed, he had been too confident in the team's abilities. He closed his eyes, pressing his face into the pillow as the memory continued.

_"Really? Couldn't you just listen-" He sent a kick into someone's side, hearing the thud of him hitting the ground and dodging another man's hit, "I wanted to see what they were doing. There's nothing around here for them to take!" He grabbed a pipe that was swung at his head, pulling it closer and kicking the guy on the other end of it in the gut. Glaring at the second oldest brother._

_"There just some pity thugs, Leo. Ain't anything to worry about!" _

_Looking over at Raphael he realized how violent his fighting was, instead of trying to make the men lose their ground, he'd go towards knocking them out. He watched as his brother punched a man in the face. The man falling to the ground instantly, holding his now bleeding nose. Meanwhile, Donnie and Mikey seemed to be working together, Bringing thugs towards one of them, and throwing them to the other as a sort of game. Leave it to Mikey to make a game out of it..._

_It was actually going pretty smoothly, no one seemed to be trying to hard, afterall there was only about fifteen of them all together, and it wasn't hard to deal with, Leo used the back of his katana to knock a guy in the stomach. That's when he heard it, the surprised yell of his red masked sibling, he spun around, looking over to where his brother was holding his thigh. He could already see the blood running down his leg and seeping through his fingers. _

_The wound, although it stunned him, seemed to only fuel his anger, and he lunged at the man who had stabbed him with the switch blade. Still too shocked to move- the man who had stabbed him was now laying on the ground, unconscious. The distraction caused Leo to feel a swift punch to the gut and he let out a gasp, jumping into the air and round house kicking the man who swung. "Raph!" He called over to his brother, who was now surrounded._

_Donnie had cleared a path of men out of the way and was standing next to his red masked brother, while Mikey and Leo took care of the enemies up front. "Leo, he's bleeding pretty bad. He might need stitches."_

_Mikey looked over to his brother and frowned, shoving a man Leo's way, Leo knocked him out and ran over to where his three brothers now were. "What should we do?"_

_"I'm fine! I'm fine!"_

_"You aren't fine, you're bleeding!"_

_"S'not like I'm dyin' Leo!"_

_"You got stabbed Raph!"_

_"Uhm guys, it isn't really the best time to be fighting."_

_"Bros, it's the popo!" _

_As the air filled with silence, Leo heard the sirens and growled. Things just kept getting worse, he looked over to his purple masked brother, who was crouched down next to Raphael, "We need to go." He said, feeling queasy from the amount of blood that seemed to come from the small wound. _

_Donnie nodded, "Keep pressure on the wound, Raph." He said._

_"That's a lot of blood dude," Mikey mumbled, a frown on his face, "Are you sure he'll be okay?"_

_"It's not that bad, c'mon scatterbrain we need to get movin'!" Mikey pouted at the response and stuck his tongue out at his older red masked brother._

_Leo motioned for his brothers to hurry as the police sirens came closer, and slung one of Raphael's arms around his shoulder, helping him through the alley, and into the drain that led to the sewers below._

That was when Leo knew he needed to work harder, and become a better leader. He yawned, rolling onto his plastron.

_It was damp in the sewers below, and now there was another problem, infection. The sewers down here were pretty dirty, and just one drop of the water could infect the wound. Every few minutes he'd look at his red masked brother to make sure he was okay. All you could hear was the sound of them walking, the usually talkitive group too concerned with their bleeding brother to say anything._

_"I don't feel so good." _

_Raphael was beginning to lose consciousness, Leo could tell by the way his body was going slack, his feet dragging across the ground instead of his slight limping from before. "Hey, Hey, you have to stay awake little brother." The leader of the team said, stopping for a moment, to give his younger brother a small break._

_He glanced over to his two other brothers, who had stopped upon hearing Leo's voice, "We need to get him to the lair." He said matter of factly, "Mikey, help me carry him."_

_The orange masked turtle nodded, "Will he be okay?"_

_"He'll be fine." Donnie said quickly._

_Helping Raph stand once again they continued their walk through the dark tunnels of the sewers, every minute seemed like and hour with how slow they were moving, and after what seemed like forever, they reached the lair. _

_"Leo, Mikey, put him on the couch. I'll get stuff to take care of that leg of his."_

_"Sound good to me. He's pretty heavy."_

_"Not the time Mikey." Donnie said, shooting his brother a glare._

_Of course Raphael was fine, nothing a few stitches couldn't handle, even though it was just a little stitched up cut, Leo decided from that day on, he would need to make sure his brothers were prepared for everything. _

Even though it was a small wound, and not that bad, that day had taught him not to be so cocky, and they could get seriously hurt at any time, that in mind, he fell asleep.

**I know, I know, this chapter isn't really that important. Or that well written...I've been sick but I felt bad because I haven't written anything in ages xD If you noticed I deleted my ROTG story, I wanna just work on this for now. I'll have the next update by next Sunday. v.v **

**R&amp;R please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I had been working on this story through the week, and I totally forgot that it was Saturday so I went to finish it, and it turns out...My storrryy was deleted! So here I am, re-writing it. I should really get a beta reader...anyone up for it? :p **

**ECDeadly: Thankss! I don't really know how to write the characters that well though, so many people write better...Dx But, that's what practice is for! :3 Yeah, I need a beta reader because I suck with spelling and my writing program doesn't tell me T.T Truthfully, I suck with Splinter, that's why he's barely in any of the chapters I write -which I have to fix- but, yeah. ^.^;**

**Guest: Thanks! Believe me, there's gonna be a few more chapters haha.**

**dondena :Yeahh, stitches can be annoying. ^.^;**

**simbeau: Thank you! I will!**

**I don't own any turtles of any kind tbh**

"Dudes, is he awake yet?"

"No Mikey, now stop asking." Donatello replied, looking up form his computer screen for the tenth time in the last ten minutes. "You'll be the first to know when he wakes up." He said, giving his younger brother an irratated look before looking back at his screen and trying to concentrate on the article he was reading.

"Okay!"

The purple masked turtle sighed softly when Mikey simply accepted the answer and continued reading, he could tell Mikey was still hovering behind him and felt himself losing patience with the youngest of them, however since he wasn't really disturbing him in anyway he continued to read, ignoring his brother.

"So...whem do you think he'll wake up?"

"MIKEY!" Exclaimed Donnie as he glared up at his brother, a frown on his face, "I don't know when he'll wake up! I'm trying to do something important, now can you please do something that does not involve distracting me?" He huffed, Mikey was quiet, and for a moment, Donnie had thought he had somehow managed to actually upset the orange masked turtle, then Mikey grinned and nodded, running off somewhere to do whatever it is Mikey did.

Finally. The peace and quiet he needed. Just as he began reading again, there was a loud crash from the lab, as well as a groan, a few seconds later a tired Raphael stumbled out, rubbing the back of his head.

Realizing he wasn't going to get any quiet time, the purple masked turte rubbed his temples in annoyance and closed his laptop, putting the silver piece of tech down on the chipped and cracked coffee table and standing.

"Raphie's up!" Mikey screamed from his room, jumping down, grinning ear to ear.

"I thought I was on the couch."

"You didn't wake up this morning so we moved you to the lab." Donnie replied, both him and Raph ignoring Mikey's cheerful yells.

Finally Mikey jumped at his older brother, Raphael took a step to the side, causing Mikey to land on the ground behind him, "Stop foolin' around." He huffed.

Donnie rolled his eyes, picking his laptop up and looking back at his brothers, "I'm going to my lab, please keep it down." He said as he left the room, closing the lab door behind him. He flopped down on his computer chair and sighed, placing the laptop on his table and going back to his article.

Usually something like this wouldn't be on his list of priorities however, it was the latest article on the Purple Dragons, the toughest gang on the east side. Lately, they had been getting better weapons, guns, and a certain acid that was becoming a big problem for the turtles. So Donnie, despite knowing that the article probably wasn't all that great, decided to read it anyway.

"Donnie it's time for patrol."

Looking over at Leo, he sighed and nodded before gently closing his laptop and pushing himself up. He followed his blue masked brother out of the room, of all the nights, tonight seemed to be one of the nights were he got nothing done. He hated nights like these.

It didn't take too long for them to find some action, although it wasn't anything major. Just a small robbery like usual. Raphael of course wasted no time in taking them out, and by the time the had got to the alley below, his red masked brother had already gotten the two thugs knocked out. The rest of the night seemed to be going by slowly however as no one was up to any bad. "I'm boredd, why isn't anyone out tonight?" Mikey pouted.

"Who knows." Donnie sighed, and Raphael frowned, "I was really hopin' to bust some heads."

"You know, no crime is a good thing, right?" Leo asked, raising a brow.

The other three brothers just shrugged. "Why don't we play a game of ninja tag?" Donnie asked, looking at his brothers. There was nothing else for them to do at the moment.

"Good idea dude!"

"We can do that, it's like a form of training."

Looking over to Raphael for an answer, who simply shrugged Donnie smiled, "Good. Mikey's on my team." He quickly claimed, putting a hand on his younger brother's shoulder.

Raphael rolled his eyes then looked over to Leo, who smirked, "We can beat them."

The game ended up going on for quite a few hours, by the time they decided to take a break the sky has begun to get bright, meaning morning was only a few minutes away. The four of them eagerly left for home where they all went their seperate ways for bed. Donatello decided he'd finish the article later and for once went to sleep in his bed, something that was rare these days. His room was pretty bare, he had a small computer on the old wooden desk as well as a few blueprints for ideas. In the corner there was a bookshelf that held a bunch of old medical books and a few computer books, everything was neat and clean, as well as organized. It seemed so foreign in the small room. As he fell onto the bed below him he sighed softly and closed his eyes, sleeping taking him almost immediatly.

Alarm clocks were evil. That was the first thought that came to Donnie's mind as he slammed his hand down on the ringing monster that woke him up hard enough for the damned thing to crack under his fist. Great, now he had added to the list of things he needed to fix. Pushing himself off his bed and stumbling out of the room, Donatello made his way downstairs as he put his mask on, he needed coffee. He needed coffee now. As he began the process of making the dark bitter liquid he thought back to last night and smiled. Rarily ever did he get to spend time with his brothers anymore, they were always doing something, and he was always too busy. The only time they did spend together was patrol, and training, usually during that time, Leo and Raph were butting heads as well. So last night had been a nice change for once.

"Yo Donnie!"

He cast his younger brother Mikey a tired look before mumbling a 'good morning' and turning back to his coffee making, pouring himself a hot steaming mug and sitting down at the table.

"So what's your plan for today dude?"

"Coffee."

Mikey pouted, and Donnie smiled, taking another sip of the dark coffee in his mug, he was never that fuctional without his morning cups of coffee, and Mikey knew that, although he never seemed to give Donatello the time he needed to fully wake up.

"Mornin' Raph!"

"Mornin' Mikey." He replied, slapping his brother over the head as he sat down at the table. Donatello chuckled when Mikey fell out of the chair he had been leaning on from the force of the slap.

"Not cool dude!"

"Totally cool."

Mikey whined and stuck his tongue out before leaving to make cereal. Donnie sighed softly, "Make me a bowl too!" Raph yelled and the purple masked turtle shot him a glare, telling him to quiet down. It was still early.

Surprisingly Leo was the last to wake up, which never happened. He was usually up training before any of them were even close to waking up, so to see him this late in the morning, and still tired was nice. It proved his brother was at least _somewhat_ human. Well, not human but you know what he meant.

This was turning out to be a great morning, maybe that meant it'd be a great day too.

**This chapter is super short. I just thought you guys deserved an update. xD I'm going to try to update at least once a week I swear but I've been sick and not getting better and when I did get better I was just too tired to do anything and when I finally decided to continue it it got deleted- So this chapter will have a second part I guess? I mean it's not exactly a full chapter. xD **

**R&amp;R**


	6. Chapter 6

**I want to break my laptop. I had been working on the latest chapter for an entire week so it would be long, I went to work on it today and it was GONE. I've decided that because my laptop is yet again messed up- thanks mom- I'm going to upload whenever I get a chance. This means that chapters won't be really long like I was hoping...Sorry guys. I don't plan on leaving this story though! However, in my time away, I've been reading on how to write better stories, so tell me what you guys think about this chapter please. c: Do you like it better than the older ones? Do you like how long it is? Just give me your opinions please!**

The rain poured down on the rooftop, hitting the ground with loud splats, and running down the drainage pipes, into the usually busy streets of the city. The red clad turtle found it rather amusing that whenever it rained it was like humans were extinct, they all acted as if the rain was some sort of killer. Pushing himself off of the crumbling brick wall he had been leaning against he shuffled over to the ledge of the building, peeking down at the streets below. No one was around, not a single person. Growling in frustration he led himself back to the crumbling wall and sighed, sliding back down the wall, his shell making a scratching noise as he dragged it against the wall. Raphael had been hanging on the rooftop for a good two hours now, he had gotten into a heated arguement with Leo and needed some fresh air, but no one was out for him to take his anger out on, all the pity crooks, and PDs had taken refuge from the freezing rain the hotheaded turtle was currently sitting in. By now his anger and frustration had drained away with the rain, and he involuntarily shivered, as goosebumps began to cover his arms and legs.

"Hey bro."

His head snapped up when he heard his youngest brother's voice, and his eyes locked onto green and orange, "What're ya doin' up here?" He asked gruffly, casting his eyes down at the roottop again.

"It's been raining for two hours." Raphael didn't respond as Michelangelo sat next to him, instead he leaned back against the brick wall like he had been before.

"So?"

This time Mikey didn't respond, he just shrugged. The red masked turtle sighed softly, kowing what his little brother wanted was for him to go back home. As he cast a glance at Mikey he realized unlike himself, his brother had come prepared for the cold with his trenchcoat, and Raph couldn't help but wonder how he managed to jump from roof top to rooftop in it. He hated the coats, they restricted his movement and felt too tight around his body.

He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jerking his head up and over to his little brother's worried face, "Your cold Raphie. C'mon let's go back to the lair."

The red clad turtle almost shot his brother down, but decided against it when his body shook yet again as a coldness ran through his veins. Sighing softly he shrugged his shoulder before giving his brother a nod and pushing himself off the brick, Mikey seemed relieved when he got up and Raphael couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. His brothers worried too much, he knew he couldn't blame them though. His health was slowly beginning to deteriorate. His usually strong immune system was beginning to fail him, and his brothers didn't know what to do about it. Donnie had been trying to find medical answers for his sudden immune failure, but his search was coming up blank, not even Splinter knew what it could be, Raphael's spirit and energy were stronger than ever.

Another shiver racked his body as he jumped from building to building, his teeth had started chattering and goosebumps covered his body as he followed after his younger brother, there was a burning in his lungs and legs that meant he was growing tired, however Raphael ignored the tight burning sensation and kept moving, his body had other plans though, and before Raphael knew what was happened, he was on his knees, practically hacking his lungs out.

"Raphie!"

A growl escaped his lips as the orange masked turtle placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to help Raphael up when his coughing stopped. He hated the way his brothers automatically came rushing to his side like this, he was fine. It was just a cough, shoving his brother's hand away he stood up, ignoring the way his muscles whined at the sudden movement. "I don't need yer help!" He spat, Mikey flinched and put his hands up in defense,

"Okay dude."

He felt bad for snapping at Michelangelo like that, but lately his brothers had been practically suffocating him with attention and concern, not only was it annoying but it scared him even more. His body was going against him, and no one knew why, and having his brothers act as if every cough or sneeze was his last day alive bothered him. He wasn't weak, and he didn't need their help taking care of himself. It was like they though of him as an idiot. He saw the way they watched him in the lair, the way they talked about him when he thought they couldn't hear, those would usually end up interrupted by him. As they walked through the sewers, Mikey would look back on Raphael every few minutes and it was beginning to piss the red masked turtle off.

Know wonder his temper had been so short lately, it was hard to keep calm when you're brothers would check on you every five to ten minutes, huffing quietly as Mikey glanced back at him, Raph smacked him in the back in the head, smirking when his brother let out a yelp and rubbed his head, "What was that for?"

"Ya tell me." He grumbled, shoving past his younger brother, and into the lair, gaining the attention of everyone as he stormed up to his room, slamming his door behind him and letting out a irratated sigh before trudging over to his hammock and flopping down in it. He was tired, annoyed, and cold. Pulling the thin brown blanket from his floor he threw it over himself and glared at the ceiling.

Downstairs Splinter sat with his three sons, his ears pressed flat against his head at Raphael's rude enterance. His son was slowly losing himself in this sickness that suddenly hung over his head. Not only had Raphael's immune system begin to stop, but so did his control, everyday the ninjutsu master saw his son's control weaken, and it wasn't that strong to begin with. His thoughts quickly drifted away when Donatello's voice filled the thick silence in the lair.

"What happened?" His voice was filled with concern and curiosity.

"I dunno bro. He just got mad."

Leo suddenly looked at him, and Master Splinter looked back, his oldest son was worried just as much as him, he had seen his brother's already short temper getting shorter, like a fuse to a bomb. "Well is he okay?" Leo asked, and Splinter looked back at Mikey. They had sent the youngest out to get Raphael, Michelangelo seemed to be Raphael's soft spot, even though it didn't always seem like it the orange clad turtled knew how to persuade Raphael better than the rest of them.

"Seemed to be his normal self to me.." Mikey mumbled rubbing the back of his head and pouting, suddenly his eyes were wide, "But he did start coughing really bad when we were coming back!"

"He was probably out in the cold rain too long..." Donnie sighed, "I'll go check on him."

"Perhaps we should let Raphael rest for now." When his sons gave him curious but strange looks the rat pressed on, "Raphael needs time to himself my sons...This sudden change is still new to your brother. He needs time to accept it, without us acting as if he is a bomb waiting to go off."

The three turtles were quiet for a moment, before Leo nodded and bowed, "Yes sensei." He said, Donatello and Michelangelo nodding in agreement before accepting their father's choice.

"Very good my sons." Splinter said before heading towards his own room to meditate on Raphael's condition some more, the clacking sound of his wooden stick following him.

Donatello didn't want to admit it, yet he had to. Raphael's condition had him stumped, he was healthy- or at least _was_ healthy up until about four weeks ago. Raphael had never really been prone to sickness, even when everyone else in the lair would pass a bug along, Raphael always somehow avoided yet. So when he out of the blue got sick one day, it had been strange. It had been even stranger a week later, when he got sick yet again. Whatever it was...it was endangering his brother, and he couldn't figure out what this disease was.

Pouring what was probably his sixth cup of coffee that day Donnie looked over to Leo who cleaning his swords, every once in awhile looking up at Raphael's closed door. The door hadn't opened since Raphael had first got here, six hours ago. Mikey was already in bed and Leo like himself, had stayed up due to Raphael. While Leonardo cleaned was swords, Donnie dragged himself into the the middle of the lair, dropping down on the couch. (Somehow managing to not spill his coffee.) "How's the research going?" Leo asked, not once taking his eyes off his shining swords.

The purple masked turtle let out a sigh and looked down into the steaming cup of coffee as if it held the answers to his current problems. "I'm stumped Leo." He said after a moment of silence, "He doesn't have any diseases, I've tested blood, given him exams, I've done _everything_, but I just can't figure it out!" By the end of the sentence the bo weilding ninja's voice had started to rise, causing Leo to look of at him.

"It's okay Donnie. You'll figure it out bro, you always do." As the blue masked turtle encourage his brother he placed a hand on his shoulder and a small smile spread across Don's face.

"You're right Leo. It's just...If I can't figure this out Raph could-" He stopped talking, casting his eyes down to the concrete floor beneath him.

"I know Donnie, I'm worried too."

Donatello didn't respond this time, and the lair was filled with silence. It was a comforting silence, but at the same time it was a worrisome one. Any other night this silence would contain the sounds of skin against leather as Raphael wore out his punching bag, or the clattering of weights as his brother worked out in the dojo, however tonight the lair was silent. Suddenly the somewhat comforting silence became tense and Donnie wasn't the only one who felt the sudden change in the atmosphere as Leo sheathed his swords and got up from where he kneeled. Donnie put his coffee on the table infront of the couch and followed his older brother up the stairs, a tight knot in his stomach when Leo knocked on their red masked brothers door, and all the only noise they heard was a dreadful _silence._

**Tell me what you think about the new chapter my dears~~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for continuing the story! I know where it's going and I'm super excited for it c: Okay, thanks for the reviews! I wanna start making these AN's shorter c: **

**I don't own any turtles or rats.**

**Turtlefanforlife1982: Haha, I hope this is soon enough c:**

**funnyjunkie: I'm happy you like it! I get really upset with this story sometimes because I've read so many really good stories! Like August08 makes wonderful stories and I just aggh- Comments like this make me wanna keep writing c:**

He didn't know why he didn't think of this any sooner, maybe it was because he wanted to kill them with his bare hands, however the four of them were too smart for that. They had close to no weaknesses, the one they did have was the worst. Their weakness was each other, he'd seen it, even if the world was in danger they wouldn't leave one of their own to die. Their love for each other would be the death of them. He smiled as he rest his chin upon his smooth hands. With a soft sigh the evil doer reached over and pulled a small pager like object into his hand, it was a blocky black shape with only one red button, he clicked it, and held the device up to his mouth, "Is everything going according to plan?" He asked.

For a moment there was silence as Oroku Saki waited for his disciple to answer, seconds went by before he gained the knowledge he had been waiting for impatiently, "Well Master Shredder...there was a bit of a mishap-"

"You fool! What do you mean mishap?" As his voice rose he closed his eyes, trying to relax. Glaring at the dark red walls as if they had done something against him he growled into his speaking device, "What happened?"

"We missed Leonardo but- but we hit the red masked one!"

"Raphael was hit?"

"Y-Yes Master Shredder. I'm terribly sorry I-"

"Despite your mistake, this will work even better." Sure, whoever missed Leonardo would still be punished, but this wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Actually, this made the plan more interesting. His original idea had been shoot Leo, kill him and the bullets disease would kill the rest of his brothers. However, if Raphael was still alive, he would grow weak, his brother would watch him slowly die...

An evil smirk spread across his pale tight face as he stood briskly from his chair, going over to a file cabinet in the corner and grabbing a file from inside, as he sat back down in his big swivel chair he hummed. Before Baxter Stockman had been killed he had been working on this serum, that had been perfected by his own scientists. Inside was the only cure to stop the slow working poison. Whatever Baxter had been working on, had been useful for him. He picked up a small vile holding the yellow acid, smiling. Leave it to the man who was trying to kill him to help him instead.

After his scientist had perfected the acid, Saki had quickly given loads of it to Hun's pitiful gang, equipping them with both acid, and guns to kill the turtles. Before now the plan had been a failure, the four turtles were too smart for this, so he had given them a bit of help, sending the foot out to slow the four of them down, and now his plan- despite not being exactly what he wanted- was working. Even if the bullets didn't kill Raphael directly, the acid inside would, and the rest of the Hamato clan would succumb into despair, vulnerability and that would be when he would strike.

Laughing to himself at his sick plan, Oroku Saki grinned ear to ear, looking at the acid again, thanks to Stockman's idiotic ideas, he had made him the greatest super weapon yet.

**Hope you guys liked the new chapter! I'm going to try and upload another chapter in like, a week. No promises tho! R&amp;R please c:**


	8. Chapter 8

**Welp, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**If I owned TMNT the newest movie would have been a lot better.**

Leo didn't know why he had woken up so early, he usually slept soundly through the night, but tonight was a different story. Sighing softly, he slid out of bed, grabbing his mask and tying it around his head, even though Leo was only getting a drink and going back to bed he still needed his mask, he felt naked without it. To him it was like clothes, and as far as he knew people didn't walk around their homes naked. At least when they lived with people they didn't. The blue masked turtle let out a yawn and slowly stumbled out of his room, which was the last room in the hallway, as he passed Mikey's room he heard soft coughing, and stopped short, stilling himself and listening closer. It sounded like someone was gagging. He looked into Mikey's room, and saw that his orange masked brother was sleeping.

Maybe he was just imagining the noise? Digging his green palms into his eyes tiredly he continued his adventure to the kitchen until he heard the noise again. It was coming from Raphael's room. Blinking he knocked on the door, "Raph?"

His brother didn't reply, but the noise stopped and Leo wondered if he really was delusional and hearing things because of being tired, but the other half of his mind told him his brother was probably sick...again. Deciding to believe the latter he slowly and quietly pushed his brother's door open, and frowned at the sight that met him. Raphael was leaning over what he could only guess was a trashcan. (It was too dark to really see anything in the room.) The red masked turtle's shoulders were shaking and his breaths were coming out in soft pants. "Raph...?" He whispered again, kneeling down next to his brother and placing a green, three fingered hand on his brother's shaking shoulder.

His skin was damp with sweat, and warm to the touch, which was worrying, what bothered him the most however was how his little brother's body jerked upon feeling the contact of his hand, head shooting up and body tensing, only to relax when he saw it was Leo. "What is it?" He mumbled, and Leo sighed.

"Let's get you cleaned up." He replied, when his brother didn't move he tugged Raphael's arm over his shoulder and helped him stand, receiving a groan of annoyance from his younger brother.

"I don't need your help I'm fine Leo." He spat, and Leo rolled his eyes tiredly.

"I don't care, I can't sleep with the sound of you getting sick so let me help." He knew if his brother thought he was taking pity on him he wouldn't accept help, hell he knew Raphael wouldn't accept help from the excuse he just used but by the dark bags under his brother's eyes he knew for once he'd allow it.

"Whateva..." He mumbled, closing his eyes. The next thing Leo knew Raphael had put all his weight on him and the blue masked turtle nearly fell at the sudden weight.

As he half carried, half dragged his younger brother into the bathroom he thought back on just a few days ago when him and Donnie had found him in his room, passed out on the floor with a high fever. Luckily they had gotten his fever down in only a day. He remembered how scared he was when he opened the door, only to find Raphael laying on the floor, Donnie had quickly gone into action, checking his pulse and cooling him down. That had been eight days ago, and he was sick again already. It was only fall and his usually sick resistant brother had gotten three colds, and all of them were worried. If he was getting sick from fall what would happen during winter when the lair was the coldest?

"Ugghh.."

Snapping his head up when his brother let out a groan he sighed softly, propping him against the wall. He wet a rag in warm water and wiped the remainders of vomit from his brother's face, cringing when Raphael shivered, "Leo...s'cold." He murmured and the blue masked turtle frowned. Rubbing his temples he looked down at his sickly brother again, before looking at the bathroom door. He needed Donnie.

"I know, I'm going to go get Don."

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Cuz."

The blue clad turtle rolled his eyes at his stubborn brother's antics before sitting next to him, bringing his knees up to his plastron, placing his elbows ontop of his knees, "Raph, Don will be able to help more than me."

"Nu-uh. He'll jus'...start..." Raphael tensed up, and Leo knew his brother was getting sick again, however he noticed too late and a moment later he was covered in his brother's vomit. Raphael's head lolled back and Leo grimaced, slowly standing and trying to pull his buff brother up. "C'mon big guy." He huffed as he lifted most of Raph's weight, the hot headed turtle's head falling on Leo's shoulder, the blue masked turtle helped his brother into the shower.

Making sure the water was at least luke warm, he helped Raph stand under the spray of water, grunting and trying to keep his brother standing, and wipe the vomit from his plastron. He hadn't had to help his brother like this since they were little, back when him and Raph were friends. He missed those days, but knew they wouldn't be coming back anytime soon and sighed softly wiping the vomit off his brother, and himself. He looked down at his now passed out brother and frowned, helping him out of the shower and laying him on the floor. "You cause so much trouble." He spoke quietly, even though he knew Raphael couldn't hear him, and dried his now sleeping brother off, before doing the same for himself.

Despite not wanting to move Raphael, he knew he needed to get him to a bedroom, "Raph, wake up." He said while gently shaking his brother's shoulder.

"Shut up."

"You can't sleep in the bathroom doofus."

He couldn't help but chuckled when the red masked turtle let out a childish whine, he did his best to ignore his brother's glare as he helped Raph up once again, dragging his brother down the hall, the hot headed turtle made a small noise of protest when they passed his room and Leo sighed, "Your too heavy for me to lift you in your hammock, it's only one night." He replied dryly, laying Raphael on his own bed. "I'll sleep on the floor."

Raph just grunted, curling up on his bed while Leo went downstairs to get a glass of water and some medication April had been nice enough to leave for them since Raphael's sudden weak immune system. When he returned upstairs with the cold glass of water and large white capsules,, he found Raphael leaning against his wall, drops of sweat beading down his forehead. "Here, this should help." He handed his brother the pill and glass.

It must have taken Raphael a few moments to process what Leo had said because the red masked turtle stared at the water for a few moments before snatching it from Leo, throwing the pill in his mouth, and downing the water in one go before the blue masked ninja took the now empty glass away and let out a tired yawn. "Go ahead and get some rest.." He mumbled tiredly, shuffling over to his dresser, setting the glass down and grabbing and extra pillow and blanket for himself, flopping down on the floor with a tired yawn. Luckily enough for him Raphael was out like a light in about five minutes and he too found sleep claiming his body.

When Raphael woke up next, he could only gasp at the tight pain in his stomach, and slowly inched his way into a sitting position, leaning back against the wall. That's when he realized, he didn't have a bed in his room, yet he was laying on one. Grunting in confusion the red masked turtle looked around only to realize he was in Leo's room. How did he get in here though? His brothers had went to bed before him and he had been in his room the last time he checked. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he scanned the room only to see Leo laying in the floor, sleeping. Why was Leo on the floor, and why was he in his bed? That's when it all hit him, he had gotten sick and his older brother had taken care of him. Feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment from the fact Leo had seen him in a moment of weakness he growled quietly, his grip tightening around the blankets he held in his hands. Maybe if he left the blue masked turtle's room, Leo would just think he had a really weird dream. Rolling his eyes at the idea he pushed himself off the bed, and immediately regret the decision as his vision blurred and his mouth filled his saliva, his stomach churning violently, he made a grab for the trash can that was on Leo's desk for who knows what reason, toppling to the ground, the trash can falling to the floor with a loud crash, he cursed quietly as he covered his mouth. Leo jumping up and looking around before seeing him, weak and pitiful laying on the floor trying not to let whatever lay in his stomach onto his brother's floor.

Leo blinked, and quickly grabbed the trashcan for him, pushing it in front of a relieved Raphael, throwing up the remains of his dinner, and coughing around vomit. He could feel Leo rubbing his shell but chose to ignore it, pressing his cheek against the cold floor as he panted. Well, he never wanted Chinese again, groaning as his stomach did flips at the thought of food he opened one eye to look at his older brother, he was giving him a worried look. "Let me go grab you some water."

For once in his life, he simply nodded, closing his eyes as they began to grow heavy. He waited patiently for Leo to return, too tired to get back on the bed, or roll over for that matter, so he lay there, his cheek pressed against the hard cold floor of the lair. His body shivered as goosebumps begin to cover his skin, and he slowly pulled himself onto his hands and knees, grunting at how his limbs felt like lead. "You should probably keep still for now." The voice made him jump, and he looked around as his bleary mind tried to make out who was speaking, that's when Leo appeared in front of him, his warm hand holding his shoulder, a cool cup of water in his other hand. It was just Leo...

"I'm fine." He huffed, taking the water from Leo with a shaky hand and sipping at it slowly despite his burning throat. He remembered when they were younger Master Splinter would make them drink slowly when they got a stomach bug. "I never said you weren't, I just said you should probably keep still."

"Same thing." He growled, glaring daggers at Leo before his gaze softened and he sighed, laying back on the floor when his stomach churned again. He knew he looked weak, however he was too tired to care right now. "Leo I'm cold."

It was silent as his brother threw him the thin sheet from his bed and the red masked turtle huffed, "This is a sheet."

"You have a fever Raph, you'll use the sheet or nothing."

Leave it to Leo to suddenly become the doctor in the family. Rolling his eyes he watched as his brother picked the trash bin up and frowned, before disappearing out of the room, from where Raph lay he could hear the water running in the bathroom and knew Leo was cleaning the waste basket out. As he lay curled up on the floor he though back to when they were little. Him and Leo used to be friends, the idea of it seemed for foreign now, having a big brother he actually depended on. Not that Leo wasn't caring, he just cared a little too much since becoming a leader, he had changed. Then again if he took on that much responsibility he probably would too. "Leo 'memba when we were kids...And ya got sick?"

Leo blinked, holding the now clean waste basket, Raphael knew Leo knew what he was talking about, "Yeah, why?"

"Masta Splinta was gone, and I thought you were gonna die." He laughed, remembered how frantic and scared he had been at the time, Leo raised a brow and Raphael chuckled, "We were close huh?"

"Uhm..Yeah.." He ignored Leo's hesitant answer, his brother was probably confused as to why he was randomly sharing the memory, hell, he himself was confused as to why.

"Dunno...Just seemed funny." Raphael mumbled before using his arms to push himself up and into a standing position, crawling back onto Leo's bed. He didn't receive an answer, and knew he wouldn't get one back.

As the red clad turtle began to fall asleep he heard Leo mumbled something about missing the old days before he fell back to sleep, leaving Leo to deal with his own thoughts.

It was around ten when Mikey woke up, and he knew he'd be in trouble for sleeping through training, but he didn't really care at the moment, sleep was still fogging up his mind, so he took his time getting out of bed, dragging his feet across the floor and downstairs into the kitchen. That's when he realized: None of his brothers were training. Leo was sitting on the couch in one of his rare days where he watched t.v, their was bags under his older brother's eyes, and Donnie was nowhere to be found. "Where is everyone?" He asked, already dreading the answer.

"Donnie and Master Splinter are upstairs with Raphael."

"He's sick again?" Mikey asked, exasperated.

A sad smile appeared on Leo's face "Afraid so little brother."

The orange masked turtle sighed and shrugged, knowing there wasn't much he could do, "You don't look so good yourself bro." He pointed out and Leo chuckled.

"I was up watching Raph last night."

Mikey's mouth made an oh shape and he nodded, "Want any breakfast?" He asked, shuffling into the kitchen and digging through the cabinets.

"After dealing with Raphael throwing up all night I'm not that hungry." Leo laughed from where he sat on the couch and Mikey did too, but their laughter wasn't all that happy.

"That's gross dude." Mikey giggled and Leo chuckled.

"Your telling me." He flipped the television off as Mikey pulled out a box of pancake batter.

"Sure you don't want anything bro?" He asked, and Leo nodded, Mikey knew his brother was worried, but there was nothing any of them could really do. However, he wouldn't say anything just yet. It would just make more tension.

As he mixed the pancake batter, his eyes kept wondering up to Raphael's door, was his brother okay? His sudden health change was bothering them all, Raphael the most. They knew he was trying to ignore it, he was trying to act as if nothing was wrong, he even refused to put the heater in his room. At least he still had the same attitude, but what were they going to do when winter finally came? It could get pretty cold in New York, especially in the sewers, and he knew Raph would need to be more careful of getting sick. His bother didn't seem to want to accept that though, and kept up a tough act of being okay.

"Morning Mikey."

"Hey Donnie!"

"Pancakes for breakfast? Is today a special day or something?"

He stuck his tongue out at his purple masked brother, "What? Can a turtle not make his bros some breakfast?"

Donnie chuckled and sat down, laying his chin on his hand and looking at his little brother, "I'm not complaining."

"Sooo..How's Raph?"

Mikey saw his brother's shoulders deflate and frowned, "So he is sick again."

"He's even worse this time, we haven't been able to get him to eat anything without him getting sick. Not only that his fever hasn't budged."

"Oh..." Letting out a sigh he smiled, "He'll be fine in a few days though." He said happily and Donnie smiled.

"He always is." He replied.

Mikey began to make the pancakes, sending one more longing glance to Raph's room, before worrying only about the food he was making, as he did so he thought about the night Raph had gotten shot. He hadn't been woken up but the next morning when everything in the lair had been quiet and he strolled downstairs only to find Raphael laying on the couch with wads of bandages wrapped around his heand and plastron he had felt sick. When he learned that both of them were from gun shots he had felt even worse and spent the day trying to do everything for an annoyed Raph. In the end he ended up getting smacked on the back of the head and yelled at for treating his hot headed brother like a child. Ever since that night Leo and Raph hadn't really fought, other than a few mean words here and there. It was actually sort of relaxing, except for all the tension that was building up now.

Since Raphael's sudden medical problems he hadn't been allowed topside for quite awhile and Mikey knew his brother was beginning to grow anxious to leave, even if it meant getting into one of the famous brotherly fights Leo and Raph got in when he decided to get some air. With him getting sick all the time now he knew his brother was going to lose it sometime soon and couldn't help but be worried. "Mikey, you pancake is burning." Leo stated and the orange clad turtle quickly looked down to the blackening pancake. quickly throwing it on a plate, with an "Oops!" His brother simply rolled his eyes as Mikey rubbed his neck and smiled sheepishly.

A few minutes later and three plates lay on the table, each one with a stack on pancakes. However, instead of the usual jokes and talking at the table it was quiet as everyone did their own thing, Don was busy going over Raph's sudden problem, and Leo was trying to stay awake. Mikey sat there, looking between his two brothers, "We should go to April's tonight!" He yelled.

Leo shook his head, "She's working in her shop tonight and her and Casey have a date."

"Where's he takin' her? I can't even imagine Casey on a date."

The three of them looked over at the stairs their red masked brother was walking down. Mikey knew Raphael wasn't supposed to be out of bed, but he couldn't help but smile. It was good to know his personality was still the same, because his physical healthy wasn't anything like the Raphael he knew. "You're supposed to be resting!" Donnie huffed and Raph just shrugged.

"Had all night and mornin' ta rest. I wanna move around a bit."

"You moved around a bit last night and ended up throwing up all over the place." Leo shot back, and Raphael glared.

"I didn't ask ya to take care of me. That was tha choice ya made on yer own."

Mikey frowned, "Broos! Calm down. Hey Raph, want any pancakes? " He held up his own plate. Raphael's face paled and his hand went to his stomach as he groaned.

"Fuck you Mikey."

The orange masked turtle giggled, as Leo glared at Raph, "Watch your mouth!"

Before Raph could respond he was heading back upstairs, muttering something about wanting to take a shower and Mikey looked at his brothers with a grin, "You did that on purpose. Didn't you?" Donnie asked with a shocked expression, before a grin broke across his face. Leo blinked at smirked.

"Dude, I've gotten sick enough times to know what it's like to look at food."

His brothers chuckled and Mikey grinned. Leave it to Mikey he thought as he finished eating his pancakes.

**I hope this chapter was long enough for you guys! Wow, two updates in one day! How exciting! xD R&amp;R**


	9. Chapter 9

**I guess I've just been on a roll. xD**

**I own no Turtles**

**Turtlefanforlife1982: Thankss! Yeah, I have a thing with torturing our hot headed turtle c:**

Splinter had not moved in the last three hours, his legs tucked underneath of him as he kneeled next to his second oldest son's bed. His old bones creaked with protest when he stood up and walked over to the dresser in his son's room where a bowl of wet rags sat. Raphael had been sick for a week now, and his fever was off and on, going away for a few days then coming back full force a day later. Now the red masked ninja lay in his bed, under bed rest despite his complaints. Squeezing the rag until it was just damp, the large rat placed it upon his son's head. He had been asleep all day, and only woke up a few times to use the bathroom. His ears twitched when Splinter heard the door to Raph's room open and turned his head slightly, watching as Donatello walked in with a heater in one hand, and a bottle of pills in the other. "Here you go Master Splinter." Splinter smiled, and thanked his son as he watched the purple clad turtle plug the heater in.

"I brought some medicine too. April said this will help keep his fever down."

"I will give them to your brother Donatello, go train with your brothers." Since Raphael didn't seem to be getting any better, Splinter left them in charge of training themselves so he could tend to Raphael. He gently urged Don with his eyes when the purple masked turtle tensed, and looked at Raph. The wise rat knew Donatello wanted to be here in case anything changed, "If anything happens I will call you Donatello, now go." He said, placing a soft paw on his son's shoulder before Donnie nodded and slowly left the room.

His gaze shifted back down to Raphael, and he sighed softly, rubbing his cheek before kneeling back down infron of the bed. "Raphael." He gently shook the hot headed turtle, it took a few moments for his son to open his eyes, and another few moments for him to actually wake up.

"Masta Splinta?" He yawned, rubbing his eyes and looking at the rat.

"Did you sleep well?"

Raphael nodded his head and Splinter smiled, taking two tablets out of the bottle and pressing them into Raph's clamy hand, "Take these my son. They will help with the fever."

"How long have I been asleep?" Asked the second oldest turtle, as he tried to sit up.

Splinter pressed down on his shoulders, forcing him to lie back down, "You need rest Raphael. Don't worry about the time for now." Once his son was relaxed again he took the water and the pills (Raph had let the fall out of his hand.) and held them to the turtle's lips.

Raphael glared at the tablets before placing them in his mouth as Splinter tipped the cup ever so slightly, allowing the hot headed turtle to drink. Afterwords his son laid back and began to fall asleep again. The rat looked down at him with a sigh. He removed the damp rag from his son's head and wet it once again before placing the old piece of cloth back on Raphael's head.

"Be strong Raphael."

The second oldest turtle grunted softly before finally falling asleep, leaving Splinter to stare at the sick turtle. Any other day, the giant rat would leave his son's care to Donatello, they all knew- splinter the most- that hot headed Raphael didn't like the attention one gets when sick, his son thought that any help he received was a sign of weakness, he also knew how Raphael bore the world's problems over his shoulders, a need to protect people, his family or not, and that burden fueled his anger more than anything. He felt the need to save the world on his own. That's why whenever Raphael was hurt, despite how hard it was- everyone acted as if nothing was wrong. Now though, something was going wrong, and they couldn't ignore it. Raphael was suddenly the sickest of them all.

"Sensei, is he getting any better?"

It took him a moment to figure out what Donatello had said to him, but once he did he replied, "I'm afraid not, his fever still hasn't broken."

"Now that he's got medicine in his system it should help."

"Let's let your brother rest for now." Splinter said, looking up at the purple masked turtle with a small smile, placing a hand on his shoulder and walking out with him.

It was hot. Way too hot for the middle of fall, the air was stale, and it felt like the sun was mere inches from his face. The sewers were usually cold in fall, they'd all sleep with extra blankets, and even leave the oven on as a way of heating their home up. Yet now, it felt as if it was summer, the air felt sticky and stale and he hated it. Grimacing as he realized his blanket was soaked in his own sweat, he opened his bleary eyes, only to be met with the sight of the brownish orange ceiling of his room. "Why...s'it so hot?" He murmured to himself, looking around his room only to spot the heater in the middle.

Raphael slowly sat up, rubbing the sweat off his forehead as he stared at it in confusion, the heater stayed by the stairs, so why was it in his room? Was Mikey playing some sort of prank? Leave it to Mikey to risk freezing to death to prank one of them, with a growl the red masked turtle stomped over to the heater, and ripped the plug from the outlet, killing the hunk of metal that made the terrible heat and heading downstairs to where he knew his brothers were.

When he got downstairs everything seemed to freeze, Mikey's game paused, Leo put his crossword ouzzle down, and Donnie put his blow torch down and took his goggles off, and they all just stared. He didn't know why they were all staring, but it was bothering him. "What is it?" He spat, crossing his arms over his chest, but they continued to just...stare. Just as Raphael was about to walk out, Leo spoke up. "You're up." He said, and Raphael cocked a brow at the shocked expression on his brother's face.

"Yeah. I'm up."

Donie got up, and walked over to Raphael, who let out a huff as his younger brother began feeling his head and asking him a bunch of questions, "Where's Splinta?"

"He went to April's to get more medicine." Mikey spoke up, leaning over the couch, "Dude, you've been sick like, all week."

"Well, I'm not anymore." He snapped back defensively and Mikey shrugged, Donnie however sighed.

"You don't have a fever, but sincce this is your first day without one you should take it easy."

"I've been takin' it easy all week!"

"And you're going to have to be taking it easy for another week if you don't rest some more so your body can heal." Leo snapped, and Raphael glared.

He knew Leo was only trying to look out for him, but he had been laying in bed all week, and all he wanted to do right now was eat something other than soup, and go topside for some fresh air. Truthfully he didn't even remember most of this week, other than eating and sleeping.

"Raph, Leo's right. Your body still needs time to recooperate."

"Fine. Whateva." He paused, "But that don't mean I'm gonna lay around all day." He snathed the remote from Mikey's side, and changed the input, going through the channels. Mikey let out a yelp, and tried to snatch the remote back but the red clad turtle shoved him to the floor, taking up the enire couch.

"Raaaph!"

"Shuddap." He snapped, and his younger brother for once, listened.

If he was going to be forced to sit around today, he'd at least do it the way he wanted to.

Somehow Raphael had managed to get out of the lair and join them for patrol that night. Leo had originally told Raph no, it was even colder than before, and even if Raphael's flu seemed to be gone, the weather would only bring it back. Raphael had went off in a rage and after some fighting Leo begrudgingly let Raphael come along, and simply decided that their night out would be shorter than usual. Whether his younger brother liked it or not. "Leo, are you sure about this?"

"He needed some time away from the lair. An hour topside won't hurt him." The leader replied and Donnie rolled his eyes, Mikey however seemed relieved with the answer and went back to rocking himself on the bar he hung upside down from.

Donatello had been most against the idea once he heard Leo had deided to let Raph join them and had went of a mini rant to the oldest about how the body needs time to rest after taking on the flu. Leo had barely understood what Don was talking about and suddenly felt pity for the red masked turtle. How many times had Donatello ranted to Raph for coming home injured? "You don't know that Leo. Raphael could barely stay well in early fall it's almost win-"

"I'm fine! Stop talkin' like I'm not here!" Both Leo and Donnie snapped their heads up to look at the hot headed turtle, who was glaring at both of them.

Before any fights could break lose there was a crash, as well as a groan and the three turtles foudn themselves looking down at their youngest brother who was laying on the rooftop, rubbing his head. "Ow."

"Shell fer brains." Raphael snorted, smirking at his youngest brother and Leo couldn't help but chuckle. It took a moment, but pretty soon Don was laughing too and Mikey grinned.

_Thank you Mikey._ Leo thought as he helped the orange masked turtle up and sighed softly, Mikey smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "I slipped."

"Obviously." Donnie chuckled and Mikey stuck his tongue out at him.

They spent about an hour running across the roof tops, looking for any signs of purple dragons or the foot, but alas, nothing was found hinting to anything bad and the four turtles were in the sewers, walking home. Donnie seemed to keep his eyes on Raph, watching him for any signs of getting sick and the red masked turtle tried his best to ignore him. They trekked through the sewers in silence, and other than the rushing water that ran pass them, there was no other noise. That's when Leo heard it, the soft splashing of someone's feet. He paused, it sounded faint, and far away, but either way someone was down here. "You hear it too?" Raph whispered, and the blue masked turtle nodded.

"Mikey, Don." He pointed tot he right, "Go that way, me and Raph will go back, call us if you find anything."

With that, the group split, Mikey and Down silently running ahead, while Raph and Leo went back the way they came to see if someone was following them.

**I hope this chapter works for you guys. xD R&amp;R please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Look! You guys get two chapters today. c: I tried to put more action into it, but I'm not that good at it...so what are your thoughts? Leave a review! I'll get back to you I promise. c:**

**I don't own TMNT**

Donnie knew why Leo had seperated him from Raphael for the time being, and although he knew Leo was just trying to keep any fights from happening, he also knew that Leo had made a wrong choice. Raphael- although he didn't want to admit it- was still recovering from his little bug, and he needed to be there in case worse came to worse and the red masked turtle needed any medical help. At the same time, him and Raphael never really fought, and he had gained his older brother's trust over the years, and if he lost it now by caring too much, he might never get to gain that trust back. So, he listened to his oldest brother- his leader- like he always did. Now here he was, walking besides Mikey as they silently followed the splashing of someone's feet. As the walked on he couldn't help but shiver at the freezing cold sewers, the sewers were ten times colder than the air outside, and the damp walls and wet floors weren't helping any.

"Dude, are we getting any closer?" Mikey asked, a frown upon his face.

"Afraid not Mikey, if anything it sounds like we're getting farther away." He rest his hand on his cheek, thinking of why that might be when it hit him, "There's more than one." He whispered to his younger brother and he looked around. If there was more than one, why didn't they see anyone? He didn't move as realization dawned on him, then he shouted, "It's the foot tech soldiers!" He called.

Of course the shout had obviously given the answer away and before he knew it Donnie was lying against the wall from where he had been kicked in the plastron, Mikey yelling his name as he did his best to attack his invisible foe. Don blinked slowly before springing into action and swinging his bo staff at the ground, in an attempt to trip the ninja who was currently beating his little brother. However, he missed and felt a fist connect with the side of his face. "Ughh.." He groaned, putting his arms infront of his face as onslaught of fists and kicks came towards his face. A few moments later, the fists and feet were gone, and he looked up and saw Mikey standing over the now visible ninja.

"Mikey! The Battle Nexus Champion does it again!"

Donnie smiled but rolled his eyes, looking down at the foot ninja, "We should tell Leo and Raph." He stated, not even bothering to wait for Mikey's response as he pulled out his shellcell.

"Did you find them?"

"You mean _them._"

There was silene on the other line for a moment.

"You mean there's more than one person?"

Donnie could tell Leo was worried, the lair had already been invaded twice already, they didn't want to add anymore to it. "Yes. Foot tech. Me and Mikey just took out one of them, but I don't know how many are down here."

"Got it."

With that, Leo hung up and Don looked up at Mikey, "We should go find them. They might need our help."

"Sure thing Don." Mikey responded, and began walking back the way they came.

Don followed suit, and sighed softly. It had already been an hour and a half, Raphael shouldn't be in this cold. Before he could think any more on the topic, Mikey let out a yelp and went flying across the sewer tunnel, and hit the wall. "Mikey!" Don ran over to his brother's side, who was groaning and rubbing his head. Luckily, his brother's shell had taken most of the impact and he was just a little dazed.

The purple clad turtle quickly turned around, staring at the sewer he was in, one of the invisible soldiers was in here somewhere. He just needed a way to see them. Frowning he kept still, and tried to think of a way to do so, that's when he heard it. The soft splat of water, he lunged forward, his bo staff hitting the small cloaking device on the foot soldier, as it sparked. "There you are!" Mikey shouted, and Donnie kicked the black clad ninja into the wall behind him, knocking him out.

"Are you okay Mikey?"

"I'm fine, bro." The youngest turtle laughed and Don nodded.

He started walking towards where he had last seen his two older brothers with a sigh, "Let's keep walking then."

Meanwhile, things were going just as bad with Raph and Leo, if anything, they were going worse. However Leo noticced something. They weren't really attacking him, as much as they were attacking Raph. There was about five of them in total, and usually they weren't that hard to defeat, but with Raphael still not feeling bak to him old self completely, he was having a bit of trouble.

"Why is-" Raph thrust a sai infront of him, and growled when it was just thin air, "-there so many of'em?"

"I don't know!" Leo exclaimed, he felt a hand in his chest and grunted, grabbing it and slamming the soldier down, as soon as he connected to the ground he became visible.

Raphael seemed to be having trouble, and Leo decided enough was enough. Taking two large jumps back he closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds around him. He scowled and whipped his body around, slashing through another soldier with his katana, then looked back to Raph, who had managed to take two others down. Now there was one question. Where was the third one?

Both brothers looked around them, but it was silent, and just as Leo thought they were all gone and turned towards Raph he saw it. The light reflecting off metal, the shine of something sharp, and it was closest to Raphael, he lunged fowards, calling his brother's name as he did so. Raphael jumped back and Leo felt relief wash through him when the katana just barely sliced his younger brother's cheek. Raphael growled, and looked around him, seeing the light bounce off the metal and swatting the blade away, sending his other fist into the foot's head. There was the sound of the soldier's body dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes and then it was silent once again.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine Raph." Leo didn't point out his hot headed brother's cut, knowing it would only start an arguement and instead looked down to the black clad ninjas around them. "We should cath up to Don and Mikey."

"Ya, ya.." Raphael spun his sai before putting them away, and Leo sighed softly. Sheething his own katanas.

When Mikey saw his older brothers walk out towards them he knew they had found the rest of the foot. Not only was Raphael cut, but Leo had that look of hatred on his fae that he saved for the Shredder and his diciples and he sighed softly. "Are they all gone?"

"We finished the rest of them off." Leo muttered, and Raphael grinned, cracking his knuckles.

"They won't be down here fer awhile."

With that they all started for home again. Mikey tried to ignore the tension between his brothers. Leo was just utterly pissed off, Donnie kept checking on Raph, and the red masked turtle was beginning to grow annoyed. Things were changing around here and he didn't like it, Raph was always getting sick, Leo's attitude was coming out more because he was worrying about Raph, and Donnie was barely sleeping. Sure, all of this was affecting him too, but he did his best at hiding it.

"Raph I want to clean that cut."

"I'm fine Donnie!" Raphael snapped back.

"I know you're fine! But for all we know that blade could have touched the water. I'm pretty sure you don't want that." He responded and Raphael hesitantly agreed with a "Yeah...whateva."

Leo didn't seem to listen to there small arguement, and instead opened the lair door, going straight into the dojo to get rid of whatever was frustrating him. Don and Raph went into the lab, and Mikey found himself alone, standing next to the couch. He sighed softly and pouted, before falling back onto the old cushions and snatching up the T.V remote, flipping the input and grabbing the old controller to his gaming system.

He looked over, through the crack in the dojo doors to where Leo was going through katas, and then glanced at the closed lab door, where he could hear his brother's hushed voices. Today was just like any other, but why did it feel so different?


	11. Chapter 11

**Heya guys, luckily my bro helped me out with my macbook so I have a different laptop to use for the time being. Now I can write the next chapter. This story still has a way to go if you're wondering. c: **

Snow and ice cold rain pelted down on the rooftops, making a soggy wet mush, the ground, if Donnie knew where he was, he'd probably be scolding him for both not wearing a jacket of some kind and leaving the lair. Right now, he didn't really care. With this weather, people weren't out, he jumped onto the fire escape, clinging to the freezing cold metal and hanging off it, looking down below him just incase some idiot was outside in this weather. As he jumped into the slush on the ground below him, he rubbed his hands together, trying to get feeling back into the numb digits. Raphael knew his brothers were probably worried, he'd been out here for at least thirty minutes, and with a storm brewing it was a bad idea, but he needed a break. His family had been so suffocating lately! "Yo!"

The voice made him freeze, _who was is? Had someone seen him? Shit._ The red clad turtle squinted at the silhouette that was in the alley across from him. God, his sight had gotten blurry, he hated it. "Who's there?" He growled, slowly moving towards the other alley, pulling his sai out from his belt, gripping the familiar leather tightly as he inched closer. "Raph, it's me. Casey!"

Oh. Spinning his weapons before putting them back in his belt, walking over to Casey, he had come prepared, he wore a large black leather jacket, and baggy sweat pants. He had on leather gloves as well. It looked rather ridiculous but Raph didn't say anything about it, "What're you doin' out here? Ain't it too cold fer ya?"

"I should be askin' you that." Casey shot back.

Raphael shrugged as Casey shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. "Anything happenin tonight?"

"Nah, the storm scared everyone."

He rolled his eyes at that, "When it's snowin' it's like all crime is extinct." He huffed, crossing his arms over his plastron, leaning back against the cold, wet bricks of the alley.

"Ya got that right. What're you doin' out here anyway? Isn't it too cold out here fer ya?"

A low, deep growl left his throat as he glared at the vigilante in front of him. "No. I'm perfectly fine."

Casey was quiet for a few minutes before shrugging his shoulders carelessly, "I just thought it would be. You being cold blooded an all."

"No."

It was quiet after that, Casey's attention set on a rat that was running around the alley, digging in the snow, Raphael however was more concerned about the streets, staring at the empty streets of New York. He felt himself shiver yet again and cursed quietly. Casey's fascination with the rat suddenly ended and he spoke up, "No one's out here. Wanna come to April's with me?"

As much as he wanted to, the red masked turtle knew if he didn't head home soon he'd be getting a lecture from his father, and two of his brothers. One was enough for the hot-headed turtle, "Nah."

Casey shrugged again and waved before running off, Raphael mumbling a, "see ya." As his friend left.

Not exactly ready to back to the lair just yet, the sai wielding turtle pushed himself off the crumbling wall and began climbing the fire escape to the roof above him, his feet were numb and burned slightly, as well as his fingers that still clung to the shining, wet metal of the fire escape. With all the rain coming down, it wasn't enough to make the snow stick, and was now mostly just a wet, sloshy mess. As he got to the top of the roof, he saw a black shadow on his left, by the time he turned the shadow was gone. Maybe it was the foot? With this in mind, the hot headed turtle sprinted towards the direction he saw the shadow go in. The buildings on either side of him came out as large reddish- brown and grey blurs as he sprint across the rooftops, following after the black covered shadow. His legs began to burn, the adrenaline pumping through his veins took the numbing cold feeling away and soon, he was standing on top of an abandoned building in the older part of town. No one good was ever here and he knew whatever or whoever he saw had led him here on purpose. Panting quietly, Raph looked around the area he was in, where did the shadow go?

Placing his calloused green hands on his sai, the mutant turtle looked around the ruined, street block for any sign of the shadow, his hands tightening on the dark brown leather that wrapped around the hilt of his precious weapons. That's when he saw it, the small flicker of black against the brick wall. "Got'cha." He smirked, slowly, and quietly moving towards the shadow.

"Hello _Turtle."_

As soon as he heard the voice, he knew he had been trapped. For once he really wished he listened to all those times his master and Leo had told him to think, then do. Growling quietly and pulling both sais out, he glared at Hun, and the dozen foot soldiers that stood by his side. Hun motioned for two of the soldiers to step forward and they did so, silently moving around Raphael, who was growing more impatient. Finally he lunged forwards, striking his first opponent, who quickly dodged, slicing his katana through the air, the red masked turtle paused for a second, to stare down at the katana that was mere inchesfrom his face before jumping back and getting into a fighting stance, waving at the both of them with one sai, motioning for them to come to him. The black covered ninjas wasted no time, one jumping in the air, and leg flying forwards, the mutant turtle blocked the kick, and grabbed the soldier's foot, hitting him in the head with the back of his sai. As soon as the weapon made contact the foot soldier dropped to the ground with a thud. Help. As the fight went on he got slower and slower, despite being covered and sweat, and hot from the adrenaline, he was cold blooded, and his body was beginning to freeze up.

By now the foot ninjas were all lying on the ground, unconscious, the only one still standing was Hun, and he was becoming more of a problem than he usually was, Raphael barely able to dodge or block his attacks, now, if it was a bit warmer out, dealing with Hun wouldn't be this bad, but now, in this weather, and with his body getting tired, the red masked turtle knew he needed help. He jumped in the air, doing a back flip to put some space between him and the giant. In the few short seconds he had of not being on defense, the hot head reached for his shellcell, only to realize he never actually brought it. "Damn." He hissed, glaring up at Hun as he came running forward, Raph dived towards the ground, just barely missing a strong punch meant for his gut. "Are you cold?" Hun laughed, and Raph grunted.

"Not just yet." He replied with a grin, lunging at Hun.

The Purple Dragon leader laughed, grabbing Raphael's leg as he tried to kick him, he held Raphael upside down, squeezing his ankle painfully tight. Grimacing, Raph tried to punch him, but he was moving too slow. "Looks like this is it." Hun laughed again, and Raphael glared, was this really it?

Before Hun could do anything else, Raphael saw a blur of green and blue, and the next thing he knew, he was lying on his shell, staring up at the dark sky above him. "Ughh.." He groaned, slowly sitting up and shaking his head.

"You okay bro?" Donatello yelled as he tripped Hun with his bo staff.

"Just peachy!" Raph grumbled, looking over to see all three of his brothers, who had taken Hun out in a matter of minutes.

By now Raphael was shaking like a leaf, his teeth chattering loudly. His body was wet from the cold rain snow slush from earlier, he looked over to his brothers, who were making their way over to him. "C-Cold." He grunted, and Donnie rolled his eyes.

"Yes, it's cold bro. What were you doing out here this long?!" He asked, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Raphael shrugged his little brother's hand off, as he added, "Raphael you're freezing!"

"Good job." The hot head spat, ignoring Leo's sigh and Mikey's eye roll.

"Let's go." Leo told them all.

Raphael had no problem with the leader's choice for once, and followed his brothers, it took them a little bit longer to get home than usual, Raphael's movements felt slow and jerkish, and he felt like lead. Of course he didn't voice these thoughts out loud, knowing Don would go into a full physical right there, as well as pester him with a bunch of questions which was the last thing he wanted right now. All Raphael wanted to do at the moment was curl up under a blanket and sleep. He was tired and cold. As he trudged down the cold, tunnels of the sewer, he found himself thinking back to when they were little. Back then they didn't have as much, and to keep warm, they four of them, and Splinter shared a bed, they'd all curl up together. His hand traced the moist, cold walls of the sewers, and he paused for a moment. He was becoming really tired.

"Raph?" As the red masked turtle opened his eyes, he let his hand drop from where it rest on the wall, and he stood there, arms hanging limply by his sides.

"Huh?" He asked dazedly, and Leo frowned.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Leo. " He muttered, before walking in front of his blue masked brother. Was he fine? Did he have a concussion? He didn't remember hitting his head. As he took the lead he looked down at his numb hand. It was blurry, which was strange because he had twenty-twenty vision.

"Raph!"

Head shooting up, Raphael spun around, only to be facing Donnie. "You're swaying." He said worriedly.

He was? "No. M'…not." He slurred, blinking a few times, and tilting his head. "Wha..?"

"Did you hit your head?"

He could barely hear his purple masked brother over the ringing in his ears. "No." He said a little bit louder than needed, although he couldn't tell because of the ringing. He realized all three of his brother were giving him worried looks now.

"Let's sit down Raphie." Leo said as he put his hands on Raphael's shoulders, pushing him down gently.

The hot headed turtle blinked, and shook his head. "Bu'…I'm…f'ne."

Leo shook his head, pushing on Raphael's shoulders again. "No you aren't."

He squinted up at Leo, who was still blurry, "Why're ya whisperin'?"

"Why's Raph acting so weird?" Mikey asked, looking down at his older brother who was now sitting on the cold floors of the sewer tunnels.

Donnie sighed, and squat down in front of Raphael, who was still squinting to see. "I think he hit head his Mikey."

Mikey's gaze switched over to Donnie, who shrugged his shoulders and began feeling Raph's head for any bumps.

"Don he's starting to fall asleep."

"I don't know if he has a concussion or not. We have to keep him awake."

"-Not sleeping."

"Good bro, now let's get you home."

Raphael thought back to when they were little again, they would play games in these tunnels all the time, tag, hide and seek, man hunt, follow the leader, freeze tag, and a few others. He blinked lazily, as he thought back on follow the leader, even then Leo seemed to be in charge. A smile spread across his face as he sunk lower, he heard Leo grunt, but before he could think anything of it he was ack in his mind, remembering the time he had decided to go into the closed down part of the sewers, maybe it was to show off, or prove he was strong, maybe it was some other reason. All he knew was at the time he wanted to be the best at follow the leader, and if leading them through dangerous tunnels would get him respect in the game, he was all for it. Of course it had ended up being a disaster.

There was the time they had been playing hide and seek, he had gone so far into the sewers he ended up lost, for hours Raphael had tried to find his way home in the maze of tunnels, but just got more confused. After a few more hours that he spent crying, and angrily hitting the wall- which, resulted in nothing but a bleed toe- his father had found him and took him back home. It took a week for Raphael to go in the sewers alone after that. Now he knew these sewers so well he could probably find his way with his eyes closed. Not even Splinter knew these sewers as good as him. In his dazed mind, he hadn't even realized they were back at the lair until Donnie was shining a light in his eyes.

"Stoppit…" He mumbled, letting his head loll onto his plastron.

Donnie rolled his eyes, picking his brother's head up. "You don't have a concussion…."

Raphael knew his brother wasn't talking to him, he was talking to himself, trying to come up with the reason for Raph's strange behaviour. "Let's get you to bed buddy." He said after a few minutes of silence.

Raphael wasn't going to complain there, by now his skin had dried, and although it was clammy, he was still cold to the touch however, body still shaking. As he dragged his feet across the floor and into his room, Donnie looked over to Leo.

"Something's wrong." He mouthed behind Raph's back.

Raphael wasted no time in getting into his hammock, and under the warm blankets, making a warm cozy caccoon around himself before closing his eyes, and beginning to fall asleep, enjoying the sudden warmth that filled his body.

Downstairs Mikey was staring up at Raph's room. His brother was yet again, disabled in some way. Of course he was out in the freezing cold rain and snow. Not only that but he had gotten into a fight too, he probably wasted what little energy he had, or that's what Donnie said with them being cold blooded and all. He sighed softly, before turning his gaze over the kitchen where his brother, and father sat, talking quietly. "I'm gonna go bother Donnie." The orange masked turtle chirped.

Both Leo and Splinter gave him a disapproving look that he ignored as he strolled into the lab, jumping onto the desk Donnie was working at, "What's up?"

Donatello stared up at him and gave him that, 'I know exactly what you're doing. Go away I'm busy.' Look.

Mikey ignored that too.

"I'm working."

"On what?"

"Blood samples."

He paused, "Why? Who's blood?"

"Your blood soon if you don't get off my desk."

The youngest turtle squeaked, jumping off of the table and standing next to his genius brother instead. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find what's going on with Raph by comparing his blood with Leo's."

Hadn't he already done that before though? A few times already? Maybe Don was beginning to get desperate. "Oh, okay." He said, grinning. "When will you be done?"

"I don't know."

"Soon?"

Donnie sighed, placing the tubes of blood in the trey that held him and looking at his younger brother, "Why?"

"I thought we could do something, like watch a movie. Since Raph has been sick we haven't done much together." His grin faltered when Donnie picked the tubes back up.

"Watch a movie without me, I'm too busy."

Donnie spent too much time on his work. Sure helping Raphael was important. However, and they both knew he wouldn't figure it out in the next hour, so it wouldn't hurt for him to watch a movie with his brothers. "C'mon dude! We need to bond."

"We're four mutant turtles who only have two human friends and live in the sewers together. We bond quite a bit everyday." Came the purple clad turtle's response.

Okay, sure Donnie had a point, but he wouldn't let him know that! "Bro, Raph has been in his room almost everyday! Let's watch a movie together, we're all so tense."

Donnie paused, and looked up at the pouting Mikey, before sighing. "Fine. One movie. That's it."

"Cool dude!"

With that the youngest turtle was off, and darting towards the dojo, where Leo was meditating. "Leo!"

Feeling a little bit annoyed when Leo ignored him he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, poking Leo with his foot. "Leo. "

"Can't you see I'm doing something Mikey?"

"Let's watch a movie!"

His older brother cracked an eye open to look at him, "Why?" He questioned and Mikey pouted.

"All of us. We haven't done anything together since Raphael's gotten sick."

"I don't know…"

"Please Leo?"

Leo shrugged his shoulders. "I guess. Isn't Raphael asleep?"

"We'll watch it when he wakes up!" He chirped, and the blue masked turtle gave him a curt nod before going back to his meditating. Leaving Mikey to his own devices once again.

So, the mutant turtle set about finding a movie all of them would enjoy, Raphael and himself liked action movies, but Donatello liked sci-fi movies. Leo liked old school movies, and horror movies. He finally decided on World War Z, since it had a little bit of everything. Even a little bit of romance, if Master Splinter joined them in their movie night. Now all he had to do was wait for Raph to wake up.

It was around ten that night when Raphael finally woke up, he was still a bit tired, but, he wasn't cold and his sight was fine again. The ringing in his ears was gone too. As the slipped out of his hammock- his first destination the kitchen- he dragged his feet out of the room and into the kitchen below for a soda. "Raph you're awake!"

"Hi Mikey." He grunted, opening the tap with one finger as he leaned against the yellow aged wall.

"We're having a movie night."

"We?"

"All of us!"

"I don't want to watch a movie." Raphael mumbled, drinking the rest of his soda before throwing the can in the trash.

"But, everyone already agreed…"

"So you guys can watch a movie. I got betta things to do."

"One movie."

He flicked his orange masked brother on the head before sighing, "It has to be an action movie."

"Got it dude!"

Maybe a movie night was just what they needed, Raphael was always sick, Leo was always training, and Donnie would rarely leave his lab. They needed to bond again, and Mikey seemed to understand this, of course the rest of them did too. Mikey however, put his thoughts into action. That's why he was sitting here, watching a man kill zombies with his brothers, who were probably just as pre-occupied with their own thoughts, instead of the movie, but what they were really enjoying, was the company of one another.

**What do you guys think of the newest chapter? I'm saving up my money to buy a new laptop, so if I'm gone for a few weeks I'm sorry. Just keep in mind I will be back soon!**

**R&amp;R**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, I just realized. This story is going to be like…really long. I haven't even gotten to the half way point yet. o.o Okay, so their rooms might get changed around because if you know my TMNT is pretty much based off of the 2003 and 2007 movie, and I was re watching TMNT today and season 3 episode 9 (The episode is called Hunted.) showed their rooms. **

Donatello's lab was beyond messy, tubes of different chemicals sat on the lab table, his desk had notes and pencil shavings scattered everywhere. There was a metal bin on the floor marked "WASTE" and balled up pieces of paper lay all over the place, the trashcan filled to the brim with paper. The only neat place in the chaos of papers and chemicals was a small wooden desk in the far corner. The only thing on the old desk was a file holder, and a few papers that were in a neat pile. This was where Donatello had been spending the past few weeks, trying to learn anything he could on Raphael's strange health problem. By now Raphael was having trouble seeing, hearing, and Donatello had realized a few nights ago, when they were on patrol, and his older brother was running a little behind them, panting, Raph was having trouble keeping up.

In all of this, Raphael did his best to act oblivious, and it was causing tension for them all, between Leo and Raph, and Don and Raph, which was something the purple masked turtle hated as Raphael had some sort of trust for him, and now because of illness he couldn't save that trust. If losing Raphael's trust meant keeping him alive, he'd deal with it. Of course Don hadn't made any progress and was just ruining his relationship with his brother. Whether he stayed at the lair or not the hot headed turtled just seemed to be getting worse, and it was causing their friendship to fall apart.

Currently, the purple clad turtle was sleeping in the swivel chair that sat in his lab, he had been working late- again- and had passed out halfway through the night, his head was laying limply on his arms that sat upon the only organized table. Donnie had been working nonstop every day and night, other than small bathroom and food breaks, he would keep working until fatigue claimed his body, and he passed out from sheer exhaustion. He knew his brothers were beginning to worry but he couldn't help it, he was the brains of their family, not only was he the plumber, electrician, and engineer, he was also the doctor. That meant fixing his family when they were sick or injured, and currently, he couldn't fix Raphael. By now desperation was kicking in and that meant his mind was coming up with all the ideas he could, and all other things were drowned by the idea of helping his brother.

"Donnie, wake up."

"Mnn…" His eyes too heavy to open, the brain of the household let out a small whine. "What?"

"You shouldn't sleep on your desk. Your drooling on your papers."

His head shot up and he winced at the kink in his neck, rubbing the back of it as he looked down at the slightly wet papers and frowning. "Great." He muttered, grabbing the papers and fixing the stack before placing it back down.

"Go ta bed."

He gazed at his alarm, the neon red numbers read 5:02 A.M. He'd only been asleep for about twenty minutes, "What are you doing up this early?" He asked his red masked brother suspiciously.

"I'm bout to go to bed, I was watchin' T.V and lost track of time."

"Sure you were." The purple masked turtle huffed, "I didn't hear the T.V."

"That's because ya had the lab door shut all night long, shellferbrains." Raphael said, hands crossed over his plastron as he glared at Don.

Guilt began to fill his heart as he looked at the protected look his brother had on his face, his glare and scowl hiding how he really felt. "Oh." He replied, his shoulders deflating.

"C'mon bro, go to bed. In your actual bed."

"But-"

Raphael pointed behind him to the steps, "If ya don't I'll kick yer ass to your room."

Now Donnie knew that the threat wasn't a joke, Raphael was usually very protective of them, he just had a certain way of…showing it. Which happened a lot. He sighed softly and nodded, dragging his feet across the lair and too his room. Once his was there he climbed the ladder that led up to his bed, and jumped onto the cushion. As he lay there, he heard the heavier steps of his older brother going up the stairs, the creak of his door opening, and then closing. Next thing he knew, it was silent again. Raph hadn't been lying. Now he felt like a jerk, he didn't even try to believe his brother.

He didn't have much time to linger on the thoughts however, as pretty soon he was back in the world of dreams. A soft smile spread across his face as things went back to the way they used to be, with all three of his healthy brothers.

The ringing was what woke him up, blaring in his ears no matter how hard he pressed his pillow over his head, so, with a bit of, or rather a lot of agitation, he jumped from his bed, snatching the plug out of the outlet. Just the way he wanted to start his day, as he walked downstairs, he saw that all of his brothers were already up, Mikey was playing a game, and Raph and Leo were sparring. Wait, what time was it exactly. "What time is it?" He asked Mikey who grinned.

"Dude, you slept all day, we were waiting for you to wake up for patrol."

"What?!" He yelled, eyes widening, Leo and Raph paused for a moment, looking over at him, but then went back to sparring at Mikey laughed.

"Yeah dude."

"Why didn't anybody wake me up?!"

"Cuz you never sleep bro." Mikey replied, his voice becoming a bit more serious.

"I do too…"

"If you pass out!"

"I need coffee…" Deciding to stop arguing with his brother, Don made his way into the kitchen, looking at the already full coffee pot. Still warm too, "Who made coffee?"

"Raph drank some."

The purple masked turtle nodded and made a cup for himself, looking over at his red masked brother, who was still sparring with Leo. Raphael didn't drink coffee. He hated it, the only time he ever did drink coffee was when he pulled all nighters. That meant he made it for him. Smiling as he sat down next to his little brother he looked at the television screen.

"How long have they been sparring?"

"For about an hour now." Mikey replied, sticking his tongue out of his mouth as he leaned to the right, in an attempt to help him turn in his racing game.

Taking a sip of the bitter, warm liquid Donnie smiled as the coffee warmed his insides and looked back over to his older brothers, watching them in fascination. They both made solid, smooth movements, not once hesitating. They moved on reflex, without a single thought about it, and he didn't understand how anyone could fight like that. Donnie had always thought out all the ways he could take out someone, he didn't have a natural reflex like them when it came to fighting, or sparring. As he watched his brothers move with ease as if they were born fighting, his shellcell went off. "Huh?" He said allowed, blinking and looking down at the caller I.D. April was calling him? "Hey April."

"Donnie! Have you seen Casey? He was supposed to be home about an hour ago, and I usually don't worry but he's not answering any of my calls…"

Ever since the two of them had "gotten serious" April turned into a worried girlfriend, and although it was amusing at times, it could be a tad bit annoying at others.

"I'm sure he's fine April, but we'll go check just to make sure."

"Thanks!"

He hung up after that, by now his older brothers had stopped their battle, and were looking at him, Mikey however was still playing his game. "April wants us to find Casey."

"Jeez, it's only ten. She's already worried?" Raph asked from where he stood, putting his sais in his belt.

Don shrugged, "Guess so."

"We might as well go find him then."

"But dude, I'm about to beat my highscore!" Mikey protested from where he sat.

Raphael slapped the back of Mikey's head, which resulted in him crashing and losing the race, "Bro! I was so close!"

"Oh well," The red masked turtle grinned, and Leo rolled his eyes.

"Can we go?" He asked his two younger brothers and Don sighed, nodding in agreement.

"The sooner we find Casey the better."

All four of them ran across the rooftops, going to all the famous crime places They stopped at three different streets that were famous for gang activity. However, Casey wasn't hanging around any of them, and there were no signs of any possible struggle that could have happened.

"Are you sure this is where he usually is?"

"Course I'm sure!" Raph barked at Leo, who sighed.

"Well he isn't here."

"So like, does that mean we can go home?" Mikey grinned, obviously eager to get back to his game.

"We have to find him for April." Don added, and Mikey sighed.

"Bro, it's _Casey._ He's probably out at some party or club."

"I guess you do have a point…" Leo nodded in agreement, and Don sighed. His brothers were probably right, Casey did have this thing with going off with out telling anyone.

"If he isn't home in the morning we'll start looking." Don spoke up, and his three brothers nodded.

Don got a call around three hours later from April. As soon as he saw her caller I.D he knew something was wrong and had answered it not a second later. It had took the purple masked turtle a few moments to understand what April had said, her talking so fast and all. Once he did though, he had told her they would be right there, told his other three brothers what was going on, and left in a rush to help his dying friend. When he got to April's apartment, Casey was asleep, and April was wiping the last of the dried blood from his skin. "How is he?" Donnie asked as he kneeled next to her, scanning the man who lay before him.

"He's stable." She whispered hoarsely, it was obvious she had been crying.

"I'm sorry April- we should have kept looking—"

"No- No. It's okay. There was no way you could of…." She covered her face with her hands, trying not to cry again.

Don rested a hand on her petite shoulder before sighing, "You try and get some rest April, I'll watch over him for now." He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze as she cast a glance to Casey one final time before heading to her room.

There was blood everywhere, on the fridge, counters, towels, and floors. April obviously had panicked when Casey got back, barely able to hold himself up from what she told him. He was still pale, and probably needed a blood transfusion. Not only that but considering his clothes- which were thrown in a corner- where covered in dirt and mud, there was chance of infection too. He sighed softly and decided to at least begin to clean the mess that surrounded him and Casey. He wet a clean towel and began to scrub the blood off the furniture as he thought about what could have happened to Casey. April had said she had been watching tv when he came through the window, as soon as he saw her he had passed out, and hadn't woken up since. Casey always seemed careful- not really careful, more like lucky- so was his luck finally wearing thin? Or did someone plan this?

"Yo Donnie!" His head snapped up, and Don blinked when he saw Raphael of all people leaning against the wall next to the window. How hadn't he heard him?

"You should be at home." Don stated as he looked back down to the bloodstain he was currently scrubbing away.

Raphael completely ignored his statement as he pushed himself off the wall, "That's a lot'a blood." He motioned to the scene in front of him and Don nodded.

"Casey's lucky April knew what she was doing."

"Hmm."

The bo master looked over to his older brother who was kneeling next to Casey, "He's tough." He stated, and Don smiled.

"He's a bonehead. Like you."

Ignoring Raphael's glare the purple clad turtle went back to scrubbing the counters. By now they were pretty much clean. Now all he had to do was find a way to get the blood out of the carpets. "Did he say who did this to'im?"

"No, and don't get any ideas." He retorted, turning his gaze to Raphael. He wasn't oblivious to Raphael, and it wasn't hard to tell what his ideas were when he was standing there, shaking like that. He was obviously mad. A mad Raphael meant rash decisions would be made, and an angry Raphael was truly the last thing he needed right now. "If you really want to help, grab a rag and start cleaning the bloodstains."

His older brother huffed, but grabbed a rag and kneeled next to Don, scrubbing the blood in the carpet. "Whateva." He grunted.

A small smile made its way on Don's face and he cast a glance at Casey, just to make sure he was still breathing, and okay. "So, where is Leo and Mikey?" He asked.

"Dunno. I left."

"They don't know you're gone do they?"

Raph smirked, " 'Course not."

Truthfully he wasn't that surprised, lately they had all made strict rules for Raph, and he was supposed to be in bed by now, or at least relaxing. Not running around the cold city. "Leo's going to be mad." Raphael shrugged at the statement, and went back to scrubbing.

Even though Donnie wasn't that happy with Raphael's choices- his brother did need to rest- he couldn't say anything. He knew that Casey was his red masked brother's friend, someone he trusted. So his brother would be allowed to break the rules- just this once. The floor was as clean as it was going to get, and he knew April would probably try to get a new carpet. He grabbed the dirty rags, and clothes, and threw them in a trash bag before walking back over to his brother's and Casey's side. "I want you to help me put Casey on the couch."

"Sure." Raph grunted, and nodded.

The youngest turtle in the room nodded back and wrapped the blanket that covered Casey from his waist down around his legs, lifting his legs. "Alright." He motioned for Raph to get their human friend's upper body and a few moments of curses and confused movement later Casey was on the couch.

That's when Leo and Mikey popped in, Mikey looked tired, and Leo looked pissed. Probably because of Raphael, Don thought, but didn't say anything out loud. "Hey Leo." He greeted, and waved to Mikey. He stood from Casey's side and walked into the kitchen. "What took you guys so long?" He asked, filling a pot with water for coffee.

"We would have come a lot sooner if we had known Raphael was here." Leo mumbled, and Mikey cringed when he saw Raphael glare his brother's way, the orange masked turtle hopping across the living room and into the kitchen, mouthing; "They're about to fight."

Maybe it was because he was upset that April had to deal with Casey by herself, or that Casey was hurt and it was his fault for not staying out later to look more. It could have even been that he was tired from lack of sleep, and found it annoying that his brothers had to fight when there were more important things. Like the injured man on the couch they were yelling next to, or the woman who lay in the room right across from this one that was sleeping, that had caused him to run into the living room, glaring at both his brother as he hissed the words, "_Shut up."_

Now, everyone knew not to mess with a mad Donnie. He was far worse than a mad Raphael, not in the sense that he could get violent, but the fact he held grudges. For a long time. He could name something they did as tots to make him mad and get them back for it today. No one ever knew when Don would attack, and that's why no one ever upset him. So both older brothers shut their mouths and just glared at each other instead. Don however, didn't think it was enough and stared at both of them. "Now, there is more important things then you're little _argument_ going on right now. Like the fact Casey is obviously badly hurt, and we still don't know who did this. " He stated matter of factly, Leo and Raph nodded.

"For now we'll just have to wait until he wakes up to see if he can remember anything. April told me it's mostly just flesh wounds, and a sprain or two. No concussion- luckily." Don continued, and his older brothers listened intently, eyes locked on their vigilante friend- Mikey was in the kitchen, and had taken control of making Don his coffee.

"However, we don't know when he will wake up. He best thing to do now is have me stay here to watch him for the night, you guys should head back to the lair, in case he does remember anything. From the looks of his wounds, it was probably the Foot."

Raphael growled quietly, but before he could get into a fit Don quickly continued, "So! I need you to go home, and be rested incase he does remember something. They wouldn't just attack him for no reason, he was targeted."

"I swear when I get my hands on-"

"Now's not the time for an attitude Raph."

"Don't you start on me now Fearless!"

"I'm not 'starting on you' I'm just telling you, having an attitude right now isn't going to help anyone."

"Both of you, stop!" Don yelled over them, rubbing his temples and sighing.

They all ended up staying for another hour, before Leo, Raph, and Mikey left, leaving Donnie by himself in his friends' home once again. He got comfortable on the floor below Casey and sighed. Tonight was going to be a long night, he thought as he took a sip of his coffee. He would watch Casey tonight, and hopefully tomorrow he'd wake up.

**I STAYED UP UNTIL WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING TO FINISH THIS FOR YOU GUYS. SO BY THE NEXT CHAPTER WE'LL BE HALF WAY THROUGH THIS STORY. I TRIED TO PUT MORE BROTHERLY STUFF IN IT. I'VE ALSO BEEN WATCHING MORE TMNT TO TRY AND GET THEIR PERSONALITIES RIGHT. HOPE YOU ENJOY R&amp;R BABES.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Yo peeps. Thanks for reviews, and here you go. v.v **

**I don't own no turtles. I wish I did.**

It had been two days since Casey had come home, beaten to a bloody pulp. He had yet to wake up, although his injuries were better. The bruising, and swelling had went down and he didn't have a fever anymore. Donnie had moved into the apartment until Casey woke up- just incase anything did happen- while the rest of the turtles would come by at night. Raphael looked down to his friend, who hadn't so much as stirred in the last hour and a half. He sat by his side, watching the hockey game, although his brothers knew he wasn't paying attention to the game by the way his eyes would always linger on Casey instead, but they didn't voice there thoughts. Raph was touchy; he liked to keep a tough front up, and pointing out his obvious emotional struggle. It would in one way, or another cause a fight.

The second eldest turtle sighed and looked back at the television, trying to pay attention to the game right now was like trying to understand Donnie's tech lingo. Not only that, but the worried looks his brothers kept sending him where even more annoying than trying to pay attention to the game. He hadn't been feeling well earlier today, and he was having trouble breathing. He knew his brothers were just worried about him, hell, he was worried too. They didn't need to keep looking at him like _that_ however. It looked like the type of look a doctor would have when he told someone they had some killer disease. He hated it, it was a look that practically sent him to his own grave. "Will ya stop that?" He asked, exasperated, glaring daggers at Mikey.

"Stop what?" His younger brother asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Lookin' at me like that! Like I'm dyin'er somethin'!"

Mikey blinked and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry dude?"

Raph rolled his eyes in annoyance, and sighed. "Yeah. Whateva." He grumbled and pushed himself off the floor and walking into the kitchen to get a soda.

Even though he knew something was wrong, he didn't really want to let him hold him back. Truly, he had a feeling he was dying, everything was becoming a struggle for him, he was more tired than he had ever been before, his body ached constantly, and it was close to impossible for him to do physical activities without losing his breath. He could barely see unless he squinted, and his hearing wasn't that great anymore either. Raphael knew his body was pretty much deteriorating, and they couldn't stop it. He pulled a coke out of the fridge, before plopping down in one of the kitchen table chairs. This whole experience, that's why he wanted to act as if nothing was wrong. If he was dying, he wanted to die doing what he loved, not laying in some bed, having his brothers worry and fret over him. Taking a sip of his coke he looked back at his youngest brother, who was playing on his Gameboy. He looked over to Leo, and took another gulp of his soda. "We can't just wait around for Casey to wake up Don. They were targeting him, and we need to find answers."

"How are we supposed to do that, Leo? Just march up to the Foot tower and ask why they attacked him in the first place?"

"If that's what we have to do." Leo retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

Leo was mad, and worried. He was acting like Raph. "Yo, Leo, my job is to be the hothead." He called to his older brother, who scowled, "I wanna bust some heads just as much as you do, but right now ain't the time. We won't get that far." It felt strange, giving his older brother the lecture. He was the hothead, the only who listened, not the other way around.

The blue masked turtle seemed to calm down a bit and gave his brother a curt nod before looking back at Don, "What can we do until then?"

"Wait." Don sighed, rubbing his temples, "We have to be patient."

April had been silent the entire time, washing the dishes from the dinner they all just had. "Why don't you guys help out?" She asked before any more bickering could ensue. "I could really use a shower."

"Sure thing April." Leo replied, taking her spot and washing the dishes, Don went to check on Casey, and Raph kept his spot at the kitchen table, looking over to where Casey lay. He still hadn't moved.

His best friend had really done it this time. That much was obvious, and he hated it. He hated the fact he couldn't go out and get whoever did this to the vigilante he got along with so well. Instead of bashing the heads of the people who did this, the red masked turtle was stuck inside some lousy flat, waiting for him to wake up, so he could give them any details he could remember. Growling quietly he stood up from where he sat, hands in the shape of fists as he stomped over to the window. They were out there somewhere, possibly hurting others and he was stuck in here, waiting.

"You okay bro?" Mikey asked from where he was now positioned, lying on the floor, game in hand.

"I hate just sittin' around when-"

"Me too dude, but we can't really do anything until Casey wakes up so…" The youngest trailed on and Raph simply chose to ignore him.

He looked back at Casey and sighed softly, crossing his arms over his chest. Knowing that glaring at his friend wouldn't make him wake up any sooner the red masked turtle flopped back down on the floor and went back to watching the hockey game.

"He's awake! Guys Casey's awake!"

Raphael didn't know who was screaming, or what time it was, all he knew was that someone was screaming, and if they didn't stop soon, he'd hit them. The yelling had stopped, and he was about to go back to sleep, until he felt someone shake him. "_What?"_ He hissed.

Leo was grinning at him, "Casey's awake Raph."

He blinked, looking up at his brother and allowing the words to sink into his brain. "What are we sitting around for then?"

Casey was awake, and hopefully he remembered what this was all about. As Raph got up from where he had been sitting, and went back to the living room, (through the night he had moved.) he sat next to his youngest brother.

Casey was rubbing his head and slowly sitting up, cursing quietly to himself as he did so. "Stupid…"

"Does anything hurt?"

"I look like a toy some old lady made, course I hurt!" He snapped at Don, but sighed, "Nothing I can't handle."

"Casey, do you know why you were attacked?"

The vigilante was silent for a bit, eyes closed in concentration as he tried to remember. Meanwhile Raph was shaking with anticipation.

All of a sudden Casey's head snapped up, and he was looking at Raph, "You!" He shoved his finger in his friend's face, everyone giving him a puzzled look.

"Me?" Raph asked, tilting his head. "Ya sure you're okay Casey? I-"

"No you didn't attack me! But it was about ya! I was patrolling when I heard Hun talking to some punks about some type of acid they put in these bullets. It kills ya."

Leo looked puzzled, "Okay…but what does this have to do with Raph?"

"Bro, I think you hit your head too hard." Mikey added, but Casey shook his head.

"Hun said one of his punk's shot Raph. Rememba? When Leo and Raph were out?"

Silence filled the room. Everyone was staring at Raphael, who was still letting the information process through his mind. He was dying. He had a feeling he was, knew he was, but it was always just a feeling. Now here it was, the cold, scary truth. He really was dying. It was strange, how somehow, even though he sort of knew he was dying, hearing the words, having proof that it was true, and not just him being paranoid. The truth managed to make his stomach knot up and he froze, looking at the worried faces of his brothers. Staring into their eyes he saw all the emotion swirling around. Fear, anger, pain, worry, pity, all of it. It both annoyed, and saddened him.

Whether he was dying or not however, he was still the protector of this family, and he wouldn't allow them to feel broken. Not yet, not until he was dead. "_What?"_ He snapped, trying to bring familiarity back into the conversation. He would act as if he was fine.

He wouldn't let his death be the thing to destroy his brothers. Not if he could help it.

**Short chapter. I know. That was the point, hehe….Well, now we're at the halfway mark. I'm already working on the next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

**You ready for this story to really start? I AAMMM. Man, I had been working really hard to get a new chapter of this story posted every week but my internet got blocked. Luckily my bro fixed it so I can update again! I have a question for you people! Should I continue to PM the people who send me reviews, or should I respond to reviews on here before I start the chapter? :3 xD**

"Leo, I told you already. I can't move any faster." Don sighed, rubbing his temples irritably. Two weeks ago they had learned that Raphael was dying, and he'd been working nonstop since then. He was lucky if he got more than two hours of sleep. For whatever reason his brothers swore he knew how to fix this, and with them asking every three or so hours if he found out how to fix Raphael's health, he was beginning to grow very aggravated.

What was even more annoying than his brothers asking every second how this was going was the fact that Raphael acted as if nothing was going on, even though he was _dying._ "I know Don, I'm just worried…"

Mikey sighed. "We're all worried dude."

"I've been searching for weeks. I can't find anything. We don't have anything to go off of, all tests are negative…I don't know how to stop something I can't find." The purple masked turtle threw in, looking down at his lap in guilt.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder Donnie looked up, meeting Leo's gaze. "It's okay bro, you're trying your hardest."

"No, it's fine." He responded quickly. Just then, Raphael decided to come downstairs from his room, by the looks of it he had just woken up. Raph slept a lot these days.

"Yo Raph!" Mikey chirped, leaning forward in the chair he had been sitting in, causing it to rock when he sat back.

"Hey Mikey." He grunted, walking over to the three of them, "What're ya all doin' over here? Did I miss trainin' again?"

"Raphael, training was around two hours ago…" Leo began, tapping his fingers together.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?!" He exclaimed, looking around and Leo's gaze turned back to Donnie.

The purple masked turtle sighed softly, he knew Raphael wouldn't like this, but for now it was the best idea. "Well you see… Raph, let's just say this…acid has already spread through your body. You doing anything too physical could put you out of shape- for good." He added on, rubbing the back of his head as his brother stared at him with wide eyes. "We can't take the risk. It's too," He paused, trying to come up with the best word to use. "…Unstable right now to tell."

Knowing his brother wouldn't be happy with the answer he stared at the floor, not wanting to face his older brother.

"I can't train cuz there's a chance I could die?" He questioned, and Don was silent for a moment before nodding.

"I'm gonna die anyway, so why does it matta?" The response made the purple banded turtle freeze.

"No! I'm not going to let you die! I'm going to fix this, it- it just takes time and until then—"

"Yeah, yeah…" Raphael sighed, and shrugged, "whateva." He mumbled, walking out of the room.

"That didn't go as…expected." Leo replied truthfully and Don found himself agreeing.

There was no attitude; there were no angry fits. He just disagreed, and left, a very un-Raph thing to do. Donnie sighed and stared at the closed door to his lab that his older brother had been standing in just a few seconds ago. "He must be going through so much…" The purple masked turtle looked down, a frown on his face.

"What if I can't save him?"

Donnie felt a hand on his shoulder, but didn't look up, "You'll be able to do it Donnie, you always figure something out."

"You think?" He asked, and his blue masked brother nodded.

The encouragement made Don feel a little better, but it didn't change the fact that Raphael was dying. "I'm gonna get back to work." He replied, with more confidence than he had had in days.

Leo smiled, and nodded before leaving Don to work.

Raphael sighed, leaning back in one of the kitchen chairs, he was tired and his body ached. "Can't train my ass…" He muttered. He had wanted to tell his brother off, to yell at him, and complain, but he just didn't have the energy to do so. Hell, he barely had anything in him to walk around, every bone creaked when he moved, and he just wanted to sleep. He wouldn't allow his brothers to see him that weak though, if he was going to die, he would die with some pride. He laid his head on the table, closing his eyes and allowing his body to relax against the wood he rest on, he was using pride as a crutch to keep himself up, and going. It was his excuse to keep trying, because if he was going to die, and no one could stop it, why should he try?

The red masked turtle knew Don had no idea how to save him, that Don couldn't stop whatever poison was inside him. He wouldn't tell his brothers he knew, they didn't deserve that. They didn't deserve this. He had always thought about how his brothers would probably be better without him, but now that he saw them, how desperate they were to save him, he knew they needed him. Truthfully Raph had been trying to ignore that, trying to pretend they didn't care, because knowing they did made this a lot more harder to deal with. "Raph? What are you doing?" His older brother's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he sat up quickly.

"Nothin'." He huffed, staring at Leo intently, "What do ya want?"

Shrugging, Leo sighed, "I was just asking…"

"Well don't."

"You wanna spar?"

"Thought I wasn't allowed." The hot head shot back, and Leo shrugged again.

"If you don't tell I won't."

Now that- that made Raphael smirk, he nodded to his brother and got up from where he had been sitting, ignoring his groaning knees. "Alright then." He agreed, following Leo into the dojo.

Leo knew that when Donnie found out about this later, he'd be in a lot of trouble, Don had already got on Mikey about messing with Raphael too much, and the blue banded turtle knew that when Don heard about Raphael sparring he'd be scolded for at least an hour, but he knew Raph needed this. His younger brother was withering away before their eyes, and he knew his brother wouldn't talk to any of them about it. He would slowly fade away, and take all those negative emotions with him. He knew Raphael needed to get his stress and anguish out some way or another, and sparring would be the easiest for his little brother.

Once they were in the dojo the two of them began to do simple stretches, and exercises to loosen their muscles and relax. Afterwards both him and Raph moved to the old brown mats for sparring and got into stances. "Ya ready to get yer butt kicked?" Raph said cockily and Leo smirked.

"If I don't take you down first." He replied, motioning for Raph to come at him.

His younger brother grinned and wasted no time in running towards him, both sais in his hands and protecting his sides, Leo jumped back when Raph took a jab at him with one of his sais, and when Leo jumped back, Raph spread his leg out, widening his stance and hitting trying to hit Leo's side with the butt of his sai. The blue-banded turtle saw the attack coming from a mile away and leaned on his left foot, giving his body the momentum it needed to spin him around, and out of the way of the attack. "You're moves are obvious Raph." Leo said, doing a backflip to avoid another attack.

Grunting, Raphael jumped back, and Leo couldn't help but smirk, now it was his turn, he began to slowly circle Raph, his right knee was open, if he hit him there he'd be able to get him pinned to the mat in only a few seconds, then again, Raphael's weak spot was his knees, he always protected them. Deciding not to think on it too much he ran towards his brother, swiping his blade towards Raph's knee, and Raphael reacted just as Leo hoped. The hotheaded turtle slid his leg back, his sai blocking the katana, causing them to lock blades. Just like Leo planned, he flipped around Raph, shoving him forward, and using the loss of balance to use the butt of his katana and dead leg Raph. Raphael however, did a half flip and put space between him and Leo, grinning.

Leo blinked, looking at his now empty hand, and then to the katana that lay on the other side of the room. His brother had disarmed him, and he hadn't even noticed! He put both of his hands on his remaining katana and smiled, "Let's finish this." He stated, and Raphael must have agreed because he quickly lunged at his brother, arms blurred in the frenzy of movement he made, Leo barely able to dodge or block his younger brother's blows. A few moments later, Leo was lying on the mat, panting and looking up at Raph; he was sitting next to him, his arms lying on his knees.

The leader of couldn't help but realize how slow his brother had begun. Sure, he did well, but usually Raphael would make these battles last, he was usually more cocky. It was strange for his brother to rush a spar; he enjoyed fighting more than anything. Sighing softly Leo sat up and looked at the red masked turtle, who was wiping sweat off his face. "Felt like forever since we've sparred." He stated and Raph looked over at him.

"Ya, s'been awhile." He hummed, standing up, and grabbing Leo's hand, pulling the blue masked turtle off the floor.

"We should do it again sometime. Without Don knowing of course."

"Sounds like a plan."

Leo grinned, patting his brother on the shell before telling his brother to go take a shower, he himself wanted to practice some katas. Raphael nodded, mumbling something about having hot water for once and walking away, leaving Leo to his own thoughts again. As he began to do his katas, the katana wielding turtle found his mind elsewhere. What would happen if Donnie couldn't save Raph? I mean, Don hadn't even been able to locate whatever poison Shredder had made and they were running out of time. Hell, Raphael could barely run along the rooftops without having to break every 15 minutes. How could Raph be so calm about this? The blue masked turtle didn't understand, you could say Raphael was scared of bugs, and he'd go off on a rant and get pissed, but you tell him that's he's dying and he's eerily calm, it terrified him. The whole situation made it seem like Raphael had been long ready for this, like he had dug his grave years ago, and now all he had to do was jump into it and cover himself up with dirt. Did Raphael accept death before this? He was strangely okay for a dying person. He groaned softly, and stopped his practice, instead sitting on the mats, he needed to meditate.

It was early evening, which meant they were going on patrol soon, and Mikey was sitting in the living room, staring at his red masked brother who was taking a nap on the couch. He wanted to wake his brother up, maybe draw on his face, or throw water on him, but he couldn't. Don would kill him if he learned that Mikey was pulling pranks, and Raph probably needed rest. He was sick. He sighed in boredom and put his hands behind his head, sitting in a chair in the corner. With Raphael being sick, there wasn't much for him to do. Don was always too busy working, and Leo didn't really have as much of a reaction as Raph did, so he didn't really prank them, and even then, Mikey seemed to be the closest to Raph. Unlike his brothers, the orange-banded turtle refused to say his older brother was dying. It was too unbelievable; Raphael was the strongest out of them all! He wouldn't die like this, he couldn't, and dying a slow death wasn't what a warrior like Raphael deserved.

Looking at his sleeping brother again he frowned. That was it! He didn't care if Donnie scolded him for hours! He was gonna prank Raph! Ever since this whole incident Raphael was being pushed away, te hot-headed turtle was too calm, too quiet, and it was too foreign. His brother was just sick one little prank wouldn't hurt'em! A grin spread across the youngest turtle's face as he tip toed out of the room to make a plan. Leaving his older brother to sleep for a little bit longer.

Once he was inside his room he began to think of ideas. Now, mikey wasn't the brightest light in the box, but he could shine pretty bright when he really wanted to. Not that anyone ever noticed. The humor of the four of them began to plot, deciding a good old fake bug trick would do the job for now. He looked around his room for the old prank kit he got a few years ago. A secret present from Donnie.

"Where is it?!" He huffed, looking around his messy room, pushing action figures and moving comics to try and find the little white box that contained the bug.

Once he found the little box, he made a note to clean his room later- even though he knew he'd never really get around to it- and grabbed the small rubber bug from inside the box and grinned. Now he just needed a way for it to move! Usually it would be a easy as going into Don's room, and asking for some type of string, or techno gizmo to make it move, and his purple masked brother would give him the supplies he needed with a shake of his head stating, "I'm not apart of this either." Before getting back to whatever he was doing for the day.

However now that Don was very strict on keeping Raphael calm, and relaxed at all times, asking for anything would be too suspicious and he would be caught instantly. Michelangelo was on his own for this one. He put the toy roach in his belt and smiled, wandering downstairs to find any string.

He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep, actually he could have sworn he had planned on hitting his old bag for a bit of exercise. He rubbed his blurry eyes and blinked a few times from where he lay on the couch. His was lying on his shell, one hand on his plastron, the other hanging off the old beat up brown furniture and grazing the floor. The red masked turtle let out a sigh as he sat up, that's when he was _it_. In the corner of his eyes Raph saw something move an inch, he froze, and turned only to see a rather large roach only inches from his face, on the arm rest of the old couch. "Ah!" He jumped up, the back of his foot his the coffee table and he gasped as he flipped over it, rolling across the floor and stopping inches from the tv set.

He wasn't scared of bugs, he just hated them, there wasn't really a reason, he had just always dislike them. Taking a closer look at the roach, and the lack of movement it seemed to have he realized it was just a rubber toy and growled, "Mikey!" He screamed when he heard stifled laughter coming from upstairs.

Raphael may have been mad, he may have wanted to hit Mikey upside the head and yell at him, but secretly, he was rather happy with the prank. He had been treated like a baby for weeks now, apparently he wasn't the only one who was tired of it.

**There will be more action packed chapters coming up. I just wanted to give you guys an update! c: **


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